The heterochromatic duelist
by Exquisitepilot7
Summary: The devil has been defeated, the dimensions were saved and peace was made... at a cost. Sakaki Yuya sacrificed himself to save the four dimensions, however, the Crimson Dragon offers him another chance to live, but with his new life comes a new threat, one that only him and the Signers can stop.
1. Proposal

**Very well guys, before I start, I want to tell you something first, first of all, the re-made is going to get updates, which means that I AM NOT leaving it to root over the years, how frequently I will update is still a matter I have to deal with, but for the moment I give you the re-made story, at first glance it might seem like the same but I assure you that things changed, a lot of them, and other thing, with the re-made story, Arc-V characters will NOT appear due to them changing the story a lot, so I'll stick to Yuya alone (and some OC to give enough duelist for Yuya to duel with)...also something that I must add is that there is no shipping as of now. With this said, I give you the official reincarnation of my fic, which has been beta tested by MatiasNightlord01, who has helped me a LOT with the grammar and the fic itself, thank you for the help man.**

* * *

Darkness, that's all that Yuya could see, he couldn't move his arms or his feet, he didn't even know how he ended up here in the first place. The last thing he remembered was defeating Starve Venom Fusion Dragon and stopping Yuri from reuniting all of Zarc's reincarnations. Yuya thoughts came to a halt once he saw a familiar glow glow coming from his waistline. Wasting no time, he inspected his deck and saw four familiar dragons; a pendulum dragon, a xyz dragon, a synchro dragon and a fusion dragon.

"The Dimensional Dragons? But why are they in my deck?"

"Sakaki Yuya"

Yuya turned his head, searching for where the voice had come from. When his vision finally cleared up, he spotted a massive crimson dragon with yellow eyes and a bright white aura surrounding its majestic form. Under normal circumstances Yuya would have been alarmed at the sight, but due to his experiences in the Fusion Dimension, he was ready to duel for his life if need be.

"Don't be alarmed young warrior, I am not here to fight"

"Who are you?"

"I am the Crimson Dragon, an ancient god and the physical embodiment and cosmic manifestation of the mighty Dragon Star! However, I come from different timeline, one parallel yet separate from your own time."

"Another timeline! What do you mean by that?!"

"The all life within the infinite universe is set upon a timeline that writes every event that has yet to happen. Your timeline is a disruption caused by a powerful entity that managed to divide the timeline which created a different chain of events that eventually caused your dimension to divide itself into four."

"Zarc."

"Indeed. However, I am not here to speak about the creation of your timeline, but to ask for your help."

"My help?"

"Yes. For in my time, I protected the Earth alongside my six children, we fought an ancient threat that you've experienced a remnant of before, the Earthbound Gods"

"Earthbound Gods? Are they related to the Earthbound Servants Sergey used."

"Indeed they are. I and my children have fought them for thousands of years. But now the Earthbound Gods have returned more powerful than ever before with the aid of their servants, the Dark Signers. Myself and my children together with my own servants, the Signers, will need your help to defeat them once and for all or they will drown the world in their darkness."

Yuya's was intrigued by all this new information, if these Earthbound Gods were more powerful than the Earthbound Servants, then whoever was resisting them needed all the help they could get.

But there was still something that Yuya didn't understand about this whole situation.

"Why? Why did you chose me to help fight your war?"

"The heroic deeds and purity of spirit you showed during your battles of across the four dimensions of your time proved that you were worthy to assist in the war against the Earthbound Gods. But the other reason is because you are no longer reside your own timeline."

"What do you-"

It was at that moment that Yuya remembered everything after his duel against Yuri, how he had succumbed to Zarc's will, how he become one with Yuto, Yugo and Yuri, but principally how…

"I died."

Yuya fell to his knees as the truth hit him like a truck, After Zarc had defeated all of the Lancers, he managed to free himself and fought against him. In the end he manage to get the upper hand, but as he was about to give the finishing blow, Zarc started to power up, not only with the intention of destroying Yuya, but the four dimensions as well. Yet, Yuya, with the power of the four Dimensional Dragons, managed to defeat Zarc once and for all. But at the cost of Yuya's life.

"I-I can't believe it… "

Tears were falling from his face as he thought of all the memories from his past, he will never become a dueltainer like his father, he will never be with his mom and dad ever again… he will never tell Yuzu how he reaaly felt about her.

"Wait! If I'm dead, what happened to Yuto and the others?"

"After your sacrifice, your counterparts were free from Zarc's influence and reappeared in the Fusion Dimension"

"So, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri alive"

"Yes, each one living out their lives in their own dimensions, but as you had the four dragons with you at the moment of your death, they couldn't return to their respective partners"

That explained why he had Dark Rebellion, Clear Wing and Starve Venom, even then it's a shame that he had them, each one of them had grown attached to Yuto, Yugo and Yuri respectively.

"And what about Ray's reincarnates?! What happened to Yuzu?!"

"Due to the aftermath of the struggle against Zarc, Akaba Ray was forced to expend all of her energy to restore the four dimensions, and thus no longer exists. However, her four reincarnations have been reborn and are living out their lives within their restored dimensions like your counterparts."

"So Yuzu is alive…"

Yuya was glad that they were okay, even if Ray sacrificed herself, she still lived on the four of her counterparts, but, just thinking of Yuzu alone and crying due to his sacrifice make his heart hurt with sorrow.

"…If I'm dead, then accepting your offer is the only way for me to be with Yuzu again?"

"That I do not know, I can't control the future. Nevertheless, as it will be a different timeline, the possibility of her even existing in my time are very remote, if not impossible."

This knowledge pained Yuya greatly. Yet, even if there was nothing waiting for him in this new world, even if he accepted there was no guarantee that there would be a place for him to call home, or even if everything could return to normal again…but that hasn't stopped him trying bring smiles to the dimensions he's been to on his journey. If there was anything he had learned from his journey, it was to never give up. If he could help prevent the destruction of an entire world, then so be it. Plus, it was a lot better than staying dead.

"I accept, but if it's a different timeline, how is this world different?"

"Xyz summoning has not been discovered yet, and you will likely come upon familiar faces that you have found before. But remember young warrior, for however much these people may look like the ones you knew, they have lived and experienced different lives entirely."

"I see."

If Xyz summoning hasn't been discovered yet, then that meant that Pendulum summoning hasn't been discovered either, and that entertainment duels and Real Solid Vision didn't exist.

"You will find the six Signers that are partnered with my children eventually, you may recognize one of my children as a monster you fought before, in this timeline his name is changed though, he is the Red Daemon's Dragon."

"JACK'S ACE MONSTER!?"

"Yes. Jack and Crow exist in this timeline as well, those two will have two of the dragons and you will aid them in destroying the Earthbound Gods. However, you cannot tell them anything about your experience here, unless it's becomes absolutely necessary."

"Very well, but what will happen to my pendulum cards and the Dimensional Dragons?"

"The dragons will remain with you, along with their other forms, and your pendulum cards will not change, but I would hide them for the moment, as they have yet to be created."

"Ok…I'm ready."

"Very well, you will appear near two of the Signers that I have chosen so that they can help you get acquainted with this world, it will not be easy… and one more thing before you go, if you summon one of the four Dimensional Dragons or their other forms you have in your control while one of my children is present or when facing one of the Dark Signers and the Earthbound Gods, it will awaken the Mark of the Dragon, so summon them only if the situation demands it."

With that last warning, Yuya suddenly felt lightheaded, then he saw a bright flash of light appear in front of him, the last thing he saw was the form of the Crimson Dragon fading in the nothingness.


	2. Dawn of a new era

**This chapter has been beta'd by MathiasNightlord01.**

* * *

Leo and Luna had just finished their dinner were bored as sat watching television, since there was nothing better to do until they had to go to sleep. Suddenly, Luna started as she experienced a strange yet familiar feeling that something was calling out to her. She recognized the feeling from somewhere but was unable to remember why she knew this. But she knew that this time the feeling was stronger than it had been before and as she experienced this, she noted that the presence that was calling to her felt warm and safe but was hurt somehow. Luna stood up, alerting her brother that something was up.

"What's wrong Luna?"

"We have to get outside now Leo! Hurry!"

Luna ran toward the door as Leo tried to slip on his shoes before his sister could leave him behind.

"W-wait up Luna! At least let me put on my shoes!"

The twins quickly made their way to the lowest part of the Tops residential area before heading toward where Luna was felt the presence calling out to her. Leo followed her as search though he had no idea what caused his sister to suddenly run off like this. His thoughts on sister's strange behavior suddenly came to a halt and once he noticed Luna staring at something before noticing the red and green haired teenager lying next a nearby wall unconscious among some discarded cardboard boxes.

"So this why you rushed out the house. Well hurry up then! We can't let him stay here, he could be injured."

Normally, Luna would argue against the idea of bringing a complete stranger into their home. Yet the strange feeling Luna was experiencing increased with each passing moment, only fading the moment she touched the teenager. She didn't know why, but something deep inside her told her that he needed her help. She steeled herself as she went to assist her brother in getting the teen upstairs so Leo didn't end up accidentally injuring their new guest.

* * *

Yuya groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. He felt dizzy and could barely see anything around him, his ears were buzzing and felt bone tired. Yet even in this state, he could hear a discussion going on nearby. From this vantage point, he could only make out the light-blue hair of two kids judging from their height. One appeared to have a ponytail while the other wore theirs in twin tails. He didn't remember how he ended up in this position, where he was, or who the people arguing were. Although, Yuya thought he had a pretty good idea of who it could be. He groaned as their voices started getting louder.

"Sora, quiet down. I'm trying to sleep here."

Yuya turned to find a more comfortable position due to the fatigue that was overtaking his body. However, his plea fell on deaf ears as it didn't stop the two individuals arguing. Left with no other option, Yuya turned his head and saw the ones responsible of the commotion and ,to Yuya's surprise, he saw that the two didn't resemble Sora at all. The two finally stopped bickering when they noticed him looking.

"Oh?"

The kid with the ponytail grinned as went rushed over to his side, oblivious to the bewildered expression Yuya was giving them from his position on the couch.

"Awesome! You're awake! My name is Leo, and over there is my sister, Luna."

Leo motioned over to his sister to come over as he introduced himself and his sibling. However, Luna seemed a little more hesitant than her brother as she slowly walked over and offered her hand to him. To say that Yuya was confused would've been an understatement, but he shook her hand anyway. Even if didn't know where he was at the moment, he didn't want to offend his young hosts by being rude.

"I'm Yuya, Sakaki Yuya. It's nice to meet you Leo, Luna."

Yuya smiled as he greeted the two youngsters. They seemed like good people so far...

Then Leo starting bombarding Yuya with rapid-fire questions.

"So where are you from? Why were you unconscious downstairs when we found you? Have you ever Turbo Dueled before? Are you a strong duelist? Could you have a duel with me? Please!"

Yuya was startled by the sudden onslaught of inquiries and slowly motioned for calm.

"Whoa, slow down there Leo, I'm not going-Wait, what do you mean you found me unconscious?"

When Yuya began questioning them about why he was there, the twins explained how Luna had been the one responsible for Yuya's rescue. Luna flushed in embarrassment, not being used to being the center of attention. As the twins recounted their first encounter with Yuya, he reviewed his memories and found that he couldn't recollect much about the event. He then found his attention drawn to a deck of cards on the coffee table next to him.

The twins, especially Leo, noticed when his attention suddenly drift toward the deck they found on him the night before. When Yuya placed his hand on top of the deck, he instantly remembered everything. Zarc's battle in the Fusion Dimension, the struggle against him, the final result when his Odd-Eyes finally managed to defeat his monster. He remembered the sacrifice he had to make to prevent Zarc from destroying the Four Dimensions in his last desperate moment… and how he had "revived" by the power of the Crimson Dragon to help defend this timeline from the dangers that were coming. He was broken from his reverie by Leo's voice he quickly turned toward the youngster who it seemed was about to try shake Yuya out of his trace.

"YUYA!W-W-WHOOOOAAAA!"

Leo stumbled backwards, started by Yuya's unexpected movement and fell back to middle of the room, but when he managed to sit up he quickly started offering apologies.

"SORRY! SO SORRY!-"

"It's fine, don't worry Leo. I just spaced out there for a second. It's nothing to worry about, I just… remembered some things."

He smiled toward them reassuringly as he moved to get up.

"Since I've recovered I think that I should go, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you-".

Leo suddenly became alarmed as he jumped in front of Yuya motioning for him to stop.

"WAIT, you can't go right now! It's dark and if Security finds a person that's not registered in Tops they'll arrest you for trespassing."

"But, I can't just stay here."

Luna smiled and shook her head.

"It's ok, you can sleep in the guest room tonight. We really don't use it much anyway and it's better than getting arrested."

Seeing as he had no other options available to him, Yuya agreed. Besides, Yuya was certain that if what the two had told him was accurate then maybe they were two of the Signers that Yuya was supposed to help in this timeline. But they were just kids, surely it was impossible. At least he still has his Pendulum cards, the Four Dimensional Dragons and his pendulum pendant…which he soon realized wasn't where it was supposed to be! As Yuya reached up and felt the lack of the pendant, he began to panic as started searching all over the room to see if it was nearby. He couldn't lose it, not only for its sentimental value, but for the power that it held. If it were to fall on the wrong hands...

"Is this yours?"

Yuya quickly turned around to see Luna holding his pendant in her hands. He let out a deep sigh of relief. Maybe he should've asked them if they seen it instead of losing his cool and overreacting, they probably thought he was nuts. He took the pendant back before giving Luna a grateful smile.

"Thank you Luna, this pendant is very precious to me. I don't know what I would do if I had lost it".

What Yuya was saying was true, after all, the pendulum his father had given him had helped him to overcome his fears to become the man and duelist he was today. It also to create the Pendulum cards, and even if it had been one of the tools Zarc used to help aid in his return, he would never abandon it.

"It's the only thing I have left…"

* * *

A few hours after his meeting with the twins, Yuya found that he couldn't sleep, even though he was dead tired. So he decided to wash his face to try and clear his head. As he finished splashing a few handfuls of water on his face, Yuya looked up to see himself in the bathroom mirror. He was surprised when he saw something he didn't expect as he stared at his reflection. His right eye was a crimson red, like always, but his left eye had taken on a green emerald coloration, even at though he was surprised by the unexpected change, and he couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Looks like now I'm the Odd-Eyes Duelist now."

 _"Certainly looks like it."_

"Huh?"

Yuya turned around to try and find the source of the voice, but found no one. It was masculine, deep but not enough to actually cause shivers. Yuya sighed as he shook his head. He was begining to think he starting to become paranoid. Then again, he had just been transported to another timeline after an encounter with ancient cosmic entity which had just given him the monumental task of trying saving the whole…

...Maybe fatigue really was starting taking it's toll.

 _"Over here Yuya."_

Now Yuya was definitely sure that someone had spoken to him. He definitely wasn't having a very good day,or night as it were, whatsoever. Nonetheless, he looked to where the voice had originated. Yuya was startled to find that the voice was coming from his deck! He always had a connection with Odd-Eyes and most of his other monsters, but he didn't think that they could communicate with him directly. Wasting no time, he took out the first card that he could see, and when he held up Odd-Eyes, he heard the voice again.

 _"Trouble sleeping?"_

Yuya was shocked that Odd-Eyes could talking to him but stayed calm. It shouldn't have surprised him, now that he really thought about of it. They'd been together since the day he was born. But being able to speak with his monsters? He had a sneaking suspicion that the Crimson Dragon was involved in this development somehow.

"I never thought you could speak Odd-Eyes, and I don't believe it's a coincidence that we can hear each other so clearly.

 _"No, it's not. I just wanted to know if you're alright. With everything that's happened, any other person would have gone insane by now, yet you appear to have adjusted well to your situation, considering the circumstances."_

"It's much harder than you think. I miss everyone and knowing that I will never be able to see them again is painful but, knowing that Zarc is… well dead. The four dimensions are safe again. If my life was the only thing needed to end the madness and bring happiness back to the world, then I am okay with leaving, despite the pain."

The room fell silent, and the only thing audible was Yuya's breathing. Odd-Eyes hadn't thought that Yuya could be so selfless. And to think, that the little crybaby from 6 years ago had become a 17 year-old man who had saved billions of lives, things like this make Odd-eyes felt better about himself, being Yuya's most trusted and favorite monster, and he could feel that Yuya felt the same way about him. His thoughts came to a halt when saw a frown on Yuya's face, Yuya turned to him and silently, but seriously, asked him.

"Odd-Eyes, where is Raging Dragon?"


	3. Terminal world

**This chapter has been beta'd by MathiasNightlord01**

* * *

Odd-Eyes was confused. What did Yuya just say? Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon was missing? He could sense the power of every monster in Yuya's deck and one of them, probably the strongest, was in the same room. It had to belong to Raging Dragon, no other card could cause such radiate such a powerful aura, unless…

 _"Yuya, is Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon in your Extra Deck?_ "

He actually doubted that Odd-Eyes Rebellion had returned to them. In fact, it was Odd-Eyes himself that assured the rest of his comrades that Odd-Eyes Rebellion was gone for good. He had actually believed that Raging Dragon was actually Odd-Eyes Rebellion's evolved form. However, Raging Dragon apparently had no memory of Yuya's other monsters, in fact he never had any sort of contact with any of them, even him.

He had actually been rather saddened concerning the lack of information regarding Odd-Eyes Rebellion's ultimate fate. After Yuya had begun summoning him outside of his awakened state, instead of an enemy Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon had started to see Odd-Eyes Rebellion as not only a valuable ally, but a friend. Odd-Eyes had begun to experience a great sadness that he had kept buried deep within himself over Odd-Eyes Rebellion's fate. If he was honest with himself, he feared Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon, seeing him not only as a problem, but as the one responsible for bringing out the dark fury that Yuya had kept hidden for so long, just as Odd-Eyes had hidden his own sorrow over the loss of Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon.

"Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon is here. However, the problem is Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon, we have to find him and fast."

Yuya would never admit it to Odd-Eyes, but he actually grown rather attached to Raging dragon, sure, it was he who had unleashed Yuya's dark wrath. Even so, when he was battling against Zarc, Raging dragon had not once ever disobeyed Yuya, showing that despite his violent nature, he had wanted to see Zarc defeated, not wreak untold amounts of destruction…or at least that much.

Odd-Eyes, on the other hand, was overjoyed at the news. Odd-Eyes Rebellion was back! Then, that happiness quickly turned to dread, if Odd-Eyes Rebellion was here, then that meant…

 _"RAGING DRAGON IS MISSING! WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?! HE IS GOING TO DESTROY EVERYTHING AND EVERY-!"_

Odd-Eyes hysteric rambling was quickly halted by Yuya, as the latter put his index finger on his beak which, surprisingly enough, actually served well in calming the dragon spirit.

"Odd-Eyes don't panic. We can't search for him for at the moment, it's too dark and if someone were to find us we'd get kicked out of here or worse, sent the facility. Tomorrow, we'll think about how we are going to find him. But we should rest for now."

As much as Yuya felt he should be worried by Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon's disappearance, he knew he would never have left his his deck just lying around. Even then, he doubted that someone could have taken it or that the Crimson Dragon would have changed him back into Odd-Eyes Rebellion. After all, even if someone had Raging Dragon they wouldn't even know how to summon it, much less activate its effects.

It was strange how much easier it was for him to sleep now that he was worried about Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon.

Odd-Eyes didn't know what to do, Odd-Eyes Rebellion was here, but Odd-Eyes-Raging was missing. Not only that, but they were in a world where they didn't didn't exist yet. Even when Yuya had created them in middle of a battle, Xyz summoning had already a been an established thing in their time. Without Pendulum and Xyz summoning, Yuya's deck would be slightly reduced in what it could do. Odd-Eyes was deep in thought when someone snapped him out of it.

 _"Hey! Stop ignoring me Odd-Eyes! I know you can hear me!"_

Odd-Eyes turned around to see a young girl with a white magician outfit, complemented with a little magician hat and a staff-like tuning fork. Tuning Magician looked annoyed due to Odd-Eyes lack of concentration.

"Enlightenment Paladin is looking for you, he wants to speak with you and the other Dimensional Dragons about something."

 _"What does Enlightenment Paladin want to speak with us about?"_

 _"He wishes to discuss the recent limitations on Yuya onii-chan's inability to use his Pendulum and Xyz Monsters. Now hurry up! Everyone is waiting for you"_

Before Odd-eyes could even respond, Tuning Magician had already left, not even bothering to wait for him. Even then, he could only say one thing about the matter.

 _"Yuya onii-chan?"_

* * *

Odd-Eyes soon found himself in an enormous room filled with all of the monsters Yuya had ever used, accompanied with some monsters he hadn't even seen yet. As he walked through the crowd, he found himself face to face to Performapal Laugh Maker.

 _"Follow me. The others are awaiting your arrival."_

The two quickly separated themselves from the crowd and heading out a short distant before finally stopping in a room with a galaxy-like roof, filled with all sort of pendulum devices along with some magical decorations. Before Odd-Eyes could ask where they were, he spotted Enlightenment Paladin watching what looked to be some sort of well.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, I'm glad you could make it. Now that you and the rest of the representatives are here, we can now begin."

Odd-Eyes was confused, the only other monsters here where Laugh Maker and himself. Suddenly, the entire room started to shake, before revealing the presence of the other three Dimensional Dragons in the room. Dark Rebellion wasn't fazed by this, Starve Venom looked bored, and Clear wing was growling due to Odd-Eyes making them wait.

"For a moment I doubted you were going to show, Odd-Eyes."

The feminine voice of Clear Wing echoed through the room as she addressed her Pendulum Counterpart. Odd-Eyes didn't respond, instead he asked the question that everyone wanted to know.

 _"Why are we here_ _Enlightenment_ _?"_

At this, Starve Venom finally began to show interest in the meeting, while Clear Wing quickly forgot her irritation in favor of joining her brethren in listening to Enlightenment Paladin's response.

 _"To discuss what to do about Yuya's deck. That's why I brought all of you here, as you all represent each of the different summoning methods. However, before we continue, I would like to ask you something Odd-eyes. Where is Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon?"_

Odd-Eyes and Dark rebellion looked in shock at Enlightenment Paladin. How did he know that Odd-Eyes Raging was missing? Odd-Eyes had only just found out himself because of his conversation with Yuya. If Enlightenment already knew of the situation, then he might know more about Odd-Eyes Rebellion. He had to be cautious in how he approached this topic.

 _"I don't know where Odd-Eyes Raging is, but I don't think that he is n-"_

 _"Don't lie to me, Odd-Eyes. I can sense his aura from here, so can everyone else here in fact. I actually thought he'd be a little more cooperative in this matter, considering he is the one of those who will be most affected by the recent limitations."_

Even though Enlightenment Paladin wasn't sure if truly believed that Odd-Eyes was lying, he still thought that Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon was still in Yuya's possession. And long as Odd-eyes kept its beak shut no one would panic. However, he couldn't hide something this big from Enlightenment, he would have to tell them all the situation eventually.

 _"Is something wrong Odd-eyes?"_

 _"N-no, just thinking on what we will do about Yuya's current summoning limitation, now that he can't Pendulum or Xyz summon, at least for now, quite a few of his Yuya's monsters will be unable to help him."_

 _"And that is why we are all here. I believe I have found a solution to take care of the limitation without Yuya needing to rely on his Pendulum monsters. If I recall, quite a few of Yuya's monsters are Non-Pendulum Effect Monsters, so we'll just have to let them pick up the slack in his main deck until Pendulum and Xyz summoning become viable again._

The solution was so simple that the four dragons couldn't believe that Enlightenment Paladin called them over just to hear this. Dark Rebellion, who hadn't spoken since Odd-Eyes had arrived, finally asked.

 _"Is that it? Why call us here if you already had a solution in place?"_

 _"Simple, because while Yuya has enough Non-Pendulum monsters to make up the difference, their powers, while strong, are still rather limited on their own. So I called all of you here order to help create more Non-Pendulum monsters as well as spell/traps to help support them in the days to come."_

Everyone in the room, save for Enlightenment Paladin himself, were shocked. The proposal not only sounded foolish but dangerous as well. It was also impossible. Starve Venom seemed to agree with Odd-Eyes' assessment.

 _"What nonsense are you spouting? We're monsters spirits, not gods! We maybe powerful but we can't create new monsters out of nothing."_

Then Clear Wing decided to add her opinion to the debate.

 _"I agree with Starve Venom, this idea of yours is foolhardy not mention dangerous. We may be able to use our power to create new spell and traps to support the non-Pendulum monsters or even alter existing monsters with our powers. But creating entirely new ones? That is well beyond our power."_

It was no surprise that Starve Venom and Clear Wing were against Enlightenment Paladin's idea. However, to everyone surprise, Odd-eyes said with clear determination.

 _"I'll do it."_

Starve and Clear were shocked that Odd-Eyes had accepted the proposal so easily, but weren't surprised when Dark Rebellion went to stand in support of his friend determination. This left Starve Venom and Clear Wing with no other option than to got along this insane plan. The remaining two dragons then joined their brethren as they grudgingly went along with granting Enlightenment Paladin's request. Odd-Eyes turned his gaze back to the spellcaster as his siblings took up places beside him.

 _"Now tell us. What must be done?"_

* * *

It was a new day in Neo Domino City. Leo and Luna had just woke up and were ready to make breakfast, until they noticed that Yuya hadn't woken up yet. However, instead of eating breakfast without him, they decided to wait. After all, even though they had just met, he seemed rather nice.

While they were waiting for Yuya to rise for the day. Leo looked over at his sister as she put her hair up in her signature twin tails, with Leo having already finished fixing his own hair earlier. He often wondered, as many males often did, why it always took longer for girls to do things that took guys less than a few minutes. He quickly pushed aside these trivial thoughts before addressing Luna.

"So, do you think Yuya is a strong duelist? What do you think he plays Luna? I'm pretty confident that he would duel me…"

As Leo was being his usual exuberant-self, Luna tuned him out as her mind was preoccupied by her dream from the previous night. It was the same one that she has been having for the last weeks, where 5 dragons and Ancient Fairy Dragon were battling a group of enormous monsters surrounded in darkness alongside a massive crimson dragon wreathed in light. Yet despite their valiant effort in battling the dark ones, the six dragons began to fall to fall one by one as they reached their limits due to their fatigue from fighting for so long.

However, unlike all the other times Luna had this dream, something new happened. Just as the dragons were about to receive a combined blast from the dark ones that would've certainly destroyed them, a new dragon suddenly appeared. This dragon one had brilliant red scales, a set of wings that were on fire with green and red orbs attached to them and metal-like claws on its feet. The strange thing about it was that that the dragon appeared to have two violet orbs orbiting around it. The dragon took one of the orbs in its beak-like jaws and smashed it, after which a set of fire pillars erupted from its wings and lashed toward the evil monsters, destroying them all in a single wave of it power. The last thing Luna remembered clearly before she woke from the strange dream was staring into the dragon's radiant red and green dichromatic eyes.

"Those eyes, they the same as Yuya's."


	4. Breaking the ice

**This chapter has been beta'd by MathiasNightlord01**

* * *

Luna was still pondering about the changes she had seen in her latest dream regarding the dragons and their battle against the evil ones. The new dragon that had appeared since her meeting with Yuya and the fact that the two shared the same eye color was… strange to say the least.

Could Yuya be connected to the dragon in some way?

And what was the orb that the dragon had crushed before unleashing the power that had finally destroyed the dark ones? She had never seen or heard a monster even remotely like the one in her dream. She could have overlooked it if it wasn't for the fact the ord never regenerated or reappeared after the dragon had unleashed its awesome power.

"Luna? Are you listening? Earth to Luna!"

Luna snapped back to reality at the sound of her brother's voice.

Leo had been moving his hands in front of his sister for a while before she finally snapped out whatever had her so zoned out. He was confused as to why Luna had been so distracted lately.

Could it be about Yuya?...Nah, it had been her idea to bring him here in the first place.

"You seem pretty distracted today sis, did you had that dream between the evil monsters and the dragons again?"

It was no surprise that Leo would knew about the constant nightmare that has been haunting her for weeks. Leo was her brother after all, and he was the person she loved and trusted about all others as well as being her closest friend. Since their parents were always on work, it had always been just the two of them.

However, she doubted if she could tell him about what happened, it was bad enough that he knew she was having strange and terrifying nightmares every few nights. She didn't want to worry him unnecessarily and knew if she said something it would only make worry about her even more than he already was.

"Leo, last night, did you noticed anything strange about Yuya?"

"Strange? The only thing strange I noticed was that crazy hair of his. Why?"

"Did you notice his eyes? They're heterochromatic."

"Hetro-What now?"

Luna sighed at her brother's response, not surprised that Leo hadn't noticed Yuya's set of mismatched eyes.

The fact that she had felt Yuya calling out to her from outside their apartment complex, and that it was she who had the idea to bring him in. It was almost as if someone, or rather something, had deliberately orchestrated their meeting for some unknown purpose. And Luna had a feeling whatever it was that had brought Yuya to them, it was connected to what she had been seeing in her dreams for the last few months.

Leo noticing his sister was starting to spacing out again. He knew she didn't want to worry him, but he knew how much the dreams really bothered her. The first time she had started having the nightmare, she had woken up screaming and terrified. It had taken Leo a while to get her calmed down enough to try sleeping again. Now, after having the same nightmare for weeks, Luna seemed to be trying to keep it all to herself in order to avoid worrying him or their parents, whenever they were actually home. Leo had to think of something quick to distract her from thinking too much about her nightmare and zoning out on him again.

"Hmmm..."

He wracked his brain for a few moments before snapping his fingers when an something came to him.

"I got it. Luna, if you're worried about Yuya, why don't you just speak with his monsters? That way we'll know for sure that Yuya isn't someone to worry about."

Luna didn't know what to say to her brother's idea. She had actually thought of doing it herself, but his deck was in the guest room, and she was not the type of person to look at someone's cards without permission. And even if she did want to try and take a peak at his deck, like most duelists he most likely kept it close and she wouldn't want to be caught looking without his knowledge. Among duelists, it was an unspoken rule that you never touch someone else's deck unless they allowed it. The only exception to this was when someone was when it was under the most extreme of circumstances.

Luna shook her head as she looked over at her twin. Leo, after having thought about it for a moment realized what she must have been thinking and came up with another solution.

"Okay, if you don't want to then we can just ask him when he wakes up. He doesn't seem like someone who would mind too much. "

Luna was about to respond when they both heard a door opening from the other side of the room. Emerging from it was Yuya and judging from his appearance, he seemed to have woken up a just few minutes earlier as he wasn't wearing his jacket or his shoes. He yawned and seemed to noticed them watching as he turned to look over at them.

* * *

Yuya had just made his way from the twin's guest room, only to see Leo and Luna staring at him as he out into the living room area. It wasn't very surprising considering that they only met him just a few hours ago. If he were them, he would be a little cautious of him too, especially considering he had almost literally appeared out of nowhere last night.

So, in order to dispel the wary atmosphere around them, Yuya decided that they should all just relax and try and try to get to know one another. And Yuya found that people relaxed more once they got to know you. And by their account, he was a complete stranger they had only just met.

"Morning Leo, Luna!"

Yuya greeted the twins with a smile as he sat down on the couch next to Leo and Luna. After a few minutes, he realized he actually didn't quite know what to say. The atmosphere in the room became a little awkward due to the silence, at least until Leo decided to break the ice.

"So, who wants to eat breakfast?"

The moment he asked, three loud growls simultaneously echoed through the room. For a few seconds, everyone paused and looked at each other before letting out slightly embarrassed laughs. Yuya looked over to Leo who was scratching his head cheeks slightly flushed in awkwardness.

"Guess that answers that question."

* * *

Yuya, Leo, and Luna quickly made breakfast before sitting down at the dining room table to eat. Yuya and Leo were eating their meal with gusto, as Luna just slowly ate her food, still thinking about Yuya's possible connection to the dragon that appeared in her dream. She never noticed Kuribon watching her with concern or Yuya's shocked face at looking to see monster spirit hovering near the girl before quickly schooling his features so the twins didn't notice his reaction.

Just like yesterday, Leo was the one who decided to brake the ice.

"So Yuya, how did you end up downstairs near that pile of boxes?"

Silence reigned following Leo's question.

Yuya didn't know what to tell them. Besides, how do you tell someone you just met, how you were revived by an ancient primordial deity after dying in battle against a demon attempting to destroy multiple parallel dimensions in an alternate future timeline? Yuya wasn't even sure he believed it and he had experienced it firsthand. Though thinking back, it seemed more like a outlandish nightmare than anything reality could come up with.

Then again, the truth was often times stranger and more terrifying than fiction. However, given the odds of them actually believing his strange tale, Yuya opted to go for something a little more believable.

"I'm not sure, The last thing I remember was someone chasing me then nothing. Next thing I know, I'm waking up on your couch."

Yuya didn't like the idea of lying, especially to kids. Yet, given the circumstances, he couldn't just tell them about his past. Then there was his deck, which was going to be hard enough to explain on its own. Before he come up with anything further to tell them, Leo, being his every exuberant self, swiftly came to his own conclusions.

"So you have amnesia? Well don't worry! Because I know the best way to recover your memories Yuya, and that's with a duel!"

Well that just backfired, and now Leo wanted to duel against him. The non-pendulum cards that Yuya owned at were in the extra card pouch on his left pants leg, where he kept cards he didn't place in his main deck along with his extra deck cards. Luckily, he still had all of his non-Pendulum Performapals in his possession along with a few other cards he had picked up during his travels in the Syncho and Fusion dimensions but had never used.

Over course of his journey during the Dimensional War, he had slowly been phasing out a lot of the normal effect Performapals in his main deck in favor of pendulum ones. Now that he had to restrict his usage of his Pendulum and Xyz monsters for the time being, he was greatly relieved he had kept hold of them. For if he hadn't he really would've been in a bind he wasn't sure he could get himself out of without having to explain why he had cards that shouldn't exist.

Now some of his more powerful spell and trap cards worked on mostly with his pendulum and magician cards, though he didn't think this would be much of an issue after sorting a few things around...

 _"You should accept onii-chan!"_

Yuya looked over to see Tuning Magician, his first tuner monster, floating beside him with an encouraging smile on her face. Even though Yuya wasn't quite sure why she was so eager for him to duel. Yet despite his slight confusion over the tuner monster's unexpected enthusiasm, Yuya smiled with the same passion he always had back when he was with his friends in his own time at the prospect of dueling.

"If you wanted a duel you just had to ask, I'll do it. Just give a few minutes to sort my deck out."

To say that Leo was excited was an understatement.

Due to Luna's condition, Leo couldn't duel against her using their duel disks as the risk of her suffering another episode like a few years ago when she fell into a coma for a month. He also never had a chance to get out much and duel against some other duelists aside from their friends and schoolmates from Neo Domino's Duel Academy, Dexter, Patty, and Bob.

The three would often come over whenever their parents were out. Currently, Bob and Patty were on vacation with their families, so they wouldn't be back for some time and Dexter was busy researching the mysterious duelist known only as the "Black Rose Witch".

Leo didn't mind, but having the chance to duel against someone new didn't come around often in the Tops.

On the other hand, Yuya was having mixed feelings, as he was going to be the first time in a long time since he had dueled without using Pendulum and Xyz monsters, and was going to have to learn to adjust to dueling without them for the time being.

But Yuya trusted Tuning Magician and his other monsters, and the only way for him to adjust to his current situation was simply though dueling. So, not only would he be doing Leo a favor by dueling him, Yuya would be helping himself as well.

He quickly pulled out his deck from his right side pouch. Then began sorting out his pendulum cards and placing them with the cards into his left side pouch and replacing them with his other non-pendulum effect monsters along some newer cards to make up the difference, the exception of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon since he couldn't think of not having him in his deck. Neither twin was able to see his cards thanks to how he was seated and how he keeping them angled away to make sure questions wouldn't be raised. Though he was certain neither twin would try to sneak a look without his permission.

When he had finished reconstructing his deck a minute later, he turned back to Leo, who was waiting in anticipation. Then he realized he was missing something, and it was one of the most important tools for a duelist to have.

"Leo, did you and Luna happen to find a Duel Disk when you found me?"

How he hadn't noticed the loss of his Duel Disk, he'd never know. Yet, now that Yuya thought back on it, the twins never mentioned finding one on him.

Leo was confused for a moment before he remembered how Luna and him had removed Duel Disk before placing Yuya on the couch the night before.

"Oh that's right, I totally forgot! Hold on, your Duel Disk is right next to ours in the other room. I'll go get it for you."

Leo then rocketed out of the room to search for Yuya's duel disk, leaving Yuya alone with Luna. The young girl had been silent during his conversation with Leo. However, Yuya couldn't stop thinking about the spirit that had appeared at Luna's side. It seemed as though it was trying to comfort her, but she didn't seem to react to its presence at all. Yuya shook his head, maybe all this interaction with spirits had was getting to him more than he had realized.

"Is something wrong Luna? You seem distracted."

Luna flinched at Yuya's voice, finally noticing that the two of them were alone. She had been so deep in on her own thoughts that hadn't even noticed Leo had left. Now that she realized that was alone with Yuya, she started feeling nervous. Luna quickly tried to assure him that everything was fine, even though it wasn't.

"I-Its nothing, I just had a bad dream that's all."

Yuya however, could see that she wasn't being entirely honest with him. After traveling through four different dimensions, you start to pick up a few new skills along the way, and one of the skills Yuya had learned was to recognize when someone was lying. Whatever she thinking about, it must be rather important if she was trying to keep it to herself even if it seemed to bother her greatly. He decided against trying to dig any further into the subject, as he didn't want to make Luna uncomfortable.

The younger twin looked around the room, searching for her missing sibling.

"Umm, where did Leo go?"

Yuya smiled brightly at the question, relieved at the change in subject.

"He went to get our Duel Disks in the other room. He seems to think that having a duel will help me remember something from before you guys found me."

Luna blinked at his response. She must have been more distracted than she thought if she didn't even notice her brother had left the room. She quickly decided to put thoughts of her nightmare aside for now. It was then that Leo appeared, carrying a sharp looking blue and white Duel Disk with a yellow gems under his arm.

To Yuya's surprise, in Leo's other arm was a similar red Duel Disk with orange trim and an amber blade, complemented with red and green gems. It also appeared to have a chamber for his Extra Deck located opposite where the Main Deck was inserted like his old Duel Disk, despite it being less advanced.

"Here it is Yuya! Now we can have a duel!"

Yuya was at a loss for words. The Crimson Dragon did say that things were going to be different in this timeline, but if duel disks were this old then the change was more drastic than he'd realized. However he found himself smiling over Leo's enthusiasm, which reminded him a bit of how Sora had been when he'd first met him.

"Right, just let me grab my jacket and shoes then we can get started."

Yuya picked up his Duel Disk from the table where Leo had placed it before heading over to the guest room.

* * *

Once he was out of sight, Luna turned to see an enthusiastic Leo getting ready for his duel. His a duel disk was way too big for him, and the only time she has ever seen Leo so excited was when he watching Jack Atlas, The King of Riding Duels, whenever he appeared dueling on television.

It wasn't surprised, Leo had always enjoyed dueling with everyone he met and due to her condition he hadn't been able to go out and duel for himself much. Even though he always said he didn't mind not being able to go out much, Luna couldn't help feeling a bit guilty for everything she made Leo go through just to take care of her.

Now that she thought about it, she had been felting a lot better recently, and one duel wouldn't hurt much.

Right?

* * *

As soon a Yuya entered the guest room the first thing he did was to take a closer look at the Duel Disk Leo had given him. However, despite it looking practically brand new, it was an older design that had become obsolete in Yuya's time. Not even Yuto, whose dimension had been reduced to ruins and forced to fight practically every day to survive against Academia's forces, had used a duel disk as old as this one.

Yuya's thoughts were interrupted by voice belonging to a certain tuner monster.

 _"Onii-chan, over here."_

Yuya looked over to see Tuning Magician, who seemed to to be excited about the upcoming duel with Leo. Considering the changes in Duel Disk, he wondered what other changes were in store for him.

"What is it you want to show me?"

The little spirit floated over to him before hovering just over his shoulder before pointing toward his Duel Disk. Suddenly, the pendulum around his neck began to shine as new cards suddenly started appearing in Yuya's deck after a few seconds the glow from the Pendulum and the new cards faded away as Yuya's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

He looked back questioningly at Tuning Magican. She giggled at the confused look on his face.

 _"The Four Dimensional Dragons, along with the help of your other monsters and I, spent all night creating some new cards to help you in the days to come. You can look now, but don't waste too much time, those kids are waiting for you."_

Yuya was speechless, he never would've expected something like this from his monsters. Even with the knowledge that he had been a part of a mad demon out to destroy the world, they still loved him regardless. But now that she mentioned it...

"Wait, you said all four of them. As in Starve Venom included?"

 _"Well, more or less. Actually, he nearly went on a rampage, but Clear Wing managed to smooth things out with him for now. I would suggest not summoning him for right now. If I recall correctly, asked me to inform you that if you attempt to summon him without his approval, he would leave you in a world of pain from which you would never escape."_

Yuya sighed. He had been expecting to hear something like this from Starve Venom. Yuya knew that Starve Venom's anger wasn't going to just go away immediately, especially after taking him away his longtime partner before being thrust into a completely different world. Thankfully, it appeared that Clear Wing had managed to hold off his rage… for the moment.

"Thanks Tuning, if there is something that I can do for-"

"It's no problem, though…it would nice if you were to give me a pat on the head."

Yuya scratched his head in confusion. When had Tuning Magician started acting like she was his little sister? She as even talking and behaving like one, nonetheless he complied and patted her with a caring smile. Tuning Magician blushed a little with a dreamy look on her face. When he finished patting her she stood looking up at the ceiling with that same dreamy look, not even noticing as Yuya left the room after slipping on his shoes and coat.

* * *

Yuya's was excited as he exited the guestroom and headed for the living room where the twins were waiting for him.

"Now it's time for that duel. And even though I'm in a different timeline, that doesn't mean that I can't show off my entertainment-style of dueling."

With that in mind, Yuya put on his cheerful smile and a determined look. When finally entered the living room, he heard Leo shout while staring at his sister standing in front of him wearing a pink version of the Duel Disk her brother was wearing.

"WHAT?! YOU WANT TO DUEL TOO LUNA!"


	5. The performer is back!

**This chapter has been beta'd by MathiasNightlord01**

* * *

Yuya stood watching at the scene that was unfolding before him, as Luna expressed to her wish to duel Yuya as well. Leo, never having seen Luna actually want to duel anyone outside of their close friends before, was understandably confused.

"What do you mean you want to duel? Are you sick or something?"

Luna sighed in slight exasperation at her twin's response, even though she knew why he was asking.

"I am not sick Leo. I've been feeling much better lately, so I thought having one duel with my Duel Disk couldn't hurt."

Leo however, was still apprehensive about her sudden decision. He had been there that day when she had slipped into a coma and it had frightened him more than he had even let on. He had lied when the grown-ups had asked if had remembered the month he had spent at his sister's side, begging her to come back from the world she had told him about, where the spirits of Duel Monsters lived. It had been one of the scariest and painful moments of his life watching his sister lie in that bed, day after day, week after week. Leo remembered thinking that he would've given up anything if it meant Luna waking up again. Which was why he seemed so reluctant in letting Luna duel Yuya with her Duel Disk.

"B-But what if you collapse in middle of the duel again?"

Collapse? Did Luna have some illness he wasn't aware of? She seemed perfectly fine to him. Maybe a bit on the shy side, yet other than that she looked to be the in the best of health. He'd never heard of a person collapsing from a duel, at least not in a normal duel without the mass produced by an action field.

"Is something wrong?"

Of course he already knew there was something wrong. Leo's reaction to Luna's decision all but shouted something was up. However, he wanted to know more about what was going on, and getting answers from the twins directly would be far better than learning about it by eavesdropping on their conversation.

The twins looked over when they realized they were no longer alone. Leo quickly calmed himself down as he scratched his head slightly about Yuya seeing him freak out over his sister just wanting to duel there new friend for seemingly no reason.

"O-Oh it's nothing. You see Luna here-"

Before Leo could finish, his sister interrupted him mid-sentence as she spoke to Yuya with a serious look in her eye.

"I want a duel with you Yuya."

Yuya thought about it for a moment before deciding it wouldn't be much of a problem for him to duel both of them. After all, he had to get re-adjusted to playing without his Pendulum or Xyz monsters. So what better way to do that than dueling with as many different people as possible to get more practice. However, it looked like Leo wasn't comfortable with Luna's decision to duel using her Duel Disk out of the blue..

"But Luna, you haven't had a real duel in since Patty went to India on vacation with her parents a few months ago, maybe you should check your deck before-"

"I remember my cards perfectly well thank you! And if I recall correctly, I have the higher win ratio between the two of us."

When Luna started comparing their respective stats, Leo's scowled at his sister for her underhanded blow. It wasn't his fault that Duel Academy wouldn't let him use his personal deck in class! Which was the main reason his win-loss ratio was lower than hers. When Leo was able to use Decks that specialized in Machine-Type Monsters he excelled. Yet when he was forced to use other types, his performance dropped greatly due to his lack of familiarity with the cards and combos to use them effectively due to focusing on honing his specialization. He knew she probably didn't really mean anything by it, but she didn't have to bring it up like that.

Yuya had a feeling that this could get ugly if the twin's argument devolved any further. However, even though with the tension in the room was high, he knew how he could put an end to this little spat between the siblings.

"Hey now! there's no need to fight over this you too. I'll simply take you on in a 2-on-1 duel, you two against me."

Leo and Luna both paused to stare at Yuya, stunned by his sudden proposal. Did he really just challenge both of them at the same time? Either he was underestimating their skill level or he did it to simply stop them from fighting. Though, now that they thought about it...

The siblings turned to each other for a moment before nodding to each other as they came to decision. Leo turned back toward Yuya before walking over to Yuya and startling him slightly when he started gentling pushing him toward the screen door that lead to the outdoor area.

"You're on Yuya! I'll take you over to where we'll be dueling while Luna's getting her deck."

Once the boys had left, Luna went over to her card box where she kept her deck with a sad expression on her face as she thought about Leo earlier reaction to her desire to duel Yuya. Even if she was a bit more frail than other kids her age, she was still a strong duelist. It wasn't like she a china doll or something that would break at the slightest touch!

Still, Luna guessed she could understand why Leo would be so against the idea. He had been protecting her ever since that time she had slipped into the Spirit World a few years ago. She didn't actually remember a lot about her time in that world, mostly just faint sounds and images. Yet, every time she thought about it, she felt and strange mixture of joy and fear that left her shaking for some reason. One thing she did remember clearly was that it had been Leo's voice that had brought her back and she later heard from the nurse that her brother had never left her side during the weeks she had been unconscious. So even though her brother was irritatingly overprotective of her sometimes, she knew he only did it out of concern for her.

Luna's eyes narrowed in determination as she followed the boys outside. This time, she would the one that helped him! She maybe a bit rusty from not dueling in a while, but she knew her cards would never fail her. Especially now that she had an odd feeling that her and Leo were in for much more than they bargained for.

* * *

While Luna was busy getting her deck, Leo lead Yuya across the rooftop area, which was mostly dominated by the large outdoor pool and a few decorative hedges and plants. The place was completely deserted aside from Yuya and Leo. However, it was a large space where they could duel without anyone interrupting. Yuya wasn't impressed by the pool though, granted it was pretty nice by most standards.

What really caught his attention was the spectacular view. He had guessed that the twin's parents were pretty well off to afford living being able to live here in the Tops, but seeing how they were currently on top of what was most likely one of the the tallest buildings in the the city, he realized that their parents must be really wealthy to live in this top floor penthouse apartment. They probably earned more in a week then most people made working their entire lives.

Yuya's thoughts on the twin's apparently wealthy lifestyle were interrupted as he saw Leo turn toward him, looking down at his Duel Disk with a slight frown. He then looked back up at Yuya, with an expression that seemed as though he wanted to tell him something. Yuya figured it had something to do with his Luna's sudden decision based on their argument just a few minutes prior.

"Umm Yuya..."

Yuya seeing that Leo was nervous, gave him an encouraging smile.

"Yes Leo?"

The youngster, seeing Yuya's smile relaxed a little before making his request.

"Could you maybe restrain yourself a little during the duel? Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want you to hold back on us or anything. I want to beat you using your A-Game. It's just… Luna can't stand the intensity of a real duel using the Duel Disks very well. That's why I was so excited when you agreed to duel with me, as I don't have many people to really duel with outside of a few friends from school and maybe the occasional neighbor. But with Luna's condition, dueling with her using a Duel Disk..."

Now Yuya knew why Leo was so against Luna's request, he was just concerned about something possibly happening to her. When Duel Disks, with new rules allowing direct attacks against the duelists, were first introduced it was discovered that not everyone was able to handle the intense experience, like young children or adults who suffered from certain health problems. It wasn't a year or two later that the developers worked to include more safety features that allowed a wider range of people to duel safely without having to worry about them collapsing in the middle of a duel.

When the ARC-System had introduced holograms that had actual mass a few decades later, the designers had taken steps to ensure that the same problem that had plagued the first Duel Disks didn't repeat itself with the new models that incorporating this new technology. Which lead to the introduction of different Action Field settings that allowed younger or less able individuals to experience an Action Duel without the risk of serious injury.

Or that was the case in his timeline at least. Here, Yuya wasn't sure if the designers of these Duel Disks had installed similar safety protocols like the ones developed his time. If that wasn't case, then it was no wonder Leo was concerned. Yuya walked over to the youngster before placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry Leo, I'll try my best not to be too tough on you and Luna. I would never do anything that would intentionally harm someone with dueling. Dueling should be about having fun and bringing happiness to yourself and the people around you. Although, since I have amnesia so I might have forgotten a few things. So let's relax and have a fun duel shall we?"

The last part near the end about him forgetting a few things wasn't a complete lie. After all, he wasn't sure what kind of cards his monsters had created for new deck. He hadn't had time to look through them to yet, but he was fairly confident he could master them given enough time.

It was going to be challenge, not being able to use his Pendulum and Xyz cards after spending his time mastering them during his journey the past few weeks, but an interesting challenge nonetheless.

Leo was back to his usual self after listening to Yuya's answer. As if by magic, Luna appeared in the doorway before coming over to join them. Yuya then noticed that their Duel Disks were a bit big for them and would slip around constantly whenever the twin's moved their arms. So when Luna finally arrived Yuya decided to fix the problem before did anything else.

"Here let me help you with those."

* * *

Yuya had quickly fixed the problem by tying some pieces of nearby cloth to their Duel Disks wrist cuffs. When he was sure the devices were on secured enough to prevent them from slipping off the twins arms in the middle of the duel, Yuya made his way over to the opposite side of the pool that was acting as their impromptu dueling field.

Once he was in position, Yuya found that using his new Duel Disk was easier than he had expected. It worked very much like his old one, with the exception that it used buttons instead of the touch screen he was used to.

"I expect you guys know the basics of a 2-on-1 match up? You're both able to share any cards you have on the field, but each have separate graveyards and 4000 life points apiece while I have 8000 to even things out. In addition, Spells or Traps can be used to affect monsters that are under your partner's control. However, effects of cards I control can only target one player of my choice. And as always, neither player on the opposing team can look at or use their teammates' or their opponents' hands or Set/face-down cards unless it's through a card effect. So I'd be careful how you plan out your moves, what one does will effect the other. "

He was not very sure if the tag rules he knew still applied in this timeline, but he was pretty sure he was right. After seeing both of them nod in confirmation to the rules.

"Alright guys, now that we've established the rules. It's time to…"

He grinned as placed his deck in the Main Deck slot before activating his Duel Disk, with the twins following shortly after with giving him determined looks at seeing his confident expression.

" ** _DUEL!_ "**

All three Duel Disks automatically began shuffling each player's deck. Once they were finished, they all drew until they each Duelist had five cards in their hand.

 **LEO: 4000 -5**

 **LUNA: 4000 – 5**

 **YUYA: 8000 – 5**

Leo smiled as he looked over at Yuya.

"Alright Yuya, since your dueling both of us on you own, it's only fair that you go first. Then, I go next, then Luna, then back to you."

"Very well. My turn!"

Yuya looked down to inspect his hand and smiled. So far, only one card in his hand was new even though he had seen it before, just not in this form. So it must have been one of the new cards his monsters had created in order help ease Yuya's transition due to the recent limitations. It was a good hand to start off with.

Before he could make his move, he was interrupted by Leo.

"Um Yuya, aren't you forgetting something?"

Yuya was confused, what did he forget? So far everything seemed fine to him. Luna seeing Yuya's confusion, said something he didn't expect.

"You forgot to draw your card."

Did she say draw a card? As long as he could remember, the first duelist to start never got to draw a card on the first turn of a duel unless they used a card effect to facilitate it. Then again, the rules here were probably different from those of his time.

He scratched his head slightly as he gave a light chuckle of embarrassment. He quickly moved to correct his mistake.

"Hehehe sorry guys, my bad. Draw!"

Leo sighed at Yuya's mistake, his amnesia must be worse than Leo had thought if he had forgotten something as basic as that. Then again, this why they were dueling to begin with after all. To help their new friend to try and recover his lost memories.

Yuya looked down to see what he had drawn. He grinned when he saw none other than Performapal Elphammer, the strongest Performapal in his deck, staring back at him. However, he couldn't summon it just yet, so he decided to start off by building up his defenses.

"I'll start by normal summoning Performapal Skeeter Skimmer and set 2 cards face down."

A giant mosquito resembling a small boat wearing a top hat materialized on Yuya's side of the field along with 2 face- down cards.

 **Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: (500/1600)**

"Turn end."

 **Yuya - 3**

"Now it's my turn! Draw!"

Leo looked down at the card he just drew, he smiled when he saw what it was.

"Yes! First, I summon Morphtronic Celfon in attack mode!"

A yellow cellphone appeared on the twin's field then swiftly changed into a humanoid robot with a dial pad on its chest numbering from 1 to 6.

 **Morphtronic Celfon: (100/100)**

"And now I activate Celfon's effect! Support Call!

The dials on Celfon's chest began flashing rapidly as it shifted through each dial until finally coming to a stop on the number 3. Leo then continued his explanation.

"You see, while Celfon is face-up in attack mode, a number will be randomly selected from 1 to 6 from the dial pad on its chest. Depending on result, I can flip the same number of cards from the top of my deck to special summon 1 Level 4 or lower Morphtronic monster from any of the flipped cards. I then shuffle the rest back to my deck."

Leo looked at the top the three cards of his deck. He flashed excited grin at Yuya.

"Alright! Now I special summon Morphtronic Radion in attack mode!"

A giant Radio appeared on the field and soon transformed into another humanoid robot with a radio attached to a cord on his hands.

 **Morphtronic Radion: (1000/900)**

"Now Radion's effect activates! While its face-up on the field in attack mode, it increases the ATK points of all Morphtronic monsters on the field by 800."

Radion then began emitting a bright green aura that immediately surrounded both itself and Celfon, increasing their power by 800.

 **Morphtronic Radion: (1800/900)**

 **Morphtronic Celfon: (900/100)**

"Get ready Yuya! Cause your about to feel the power of my Morphtronic monsters!"

Leo pointed at the monster on Yuya's side of the field.

"Battle! Morphtronic Celfon attack Yuya's Skeeter Skimmer!"

Celfon leaped forward with its arms in front of it before attempting to destroy Yuya's monster. Leo knew he wasn't probably wasn't going to take out more than small quarter of Yuya's life points this turn. But it was more than enough to give Luna an opening next turn.

However, Leo's confidence in his plan quickly shattered when he saw Yuya's smile.

"I activate Skeeter Skimmer's special effect! When he is targeted for an attack I can change him into defense position, then I negate the attack!"

Skeeter's window-like wings fend off Radion attack and changed itself in a sitting position. Leo was surprised but he quickly shook it off, even if he wouldn't be able to touch Yuya's life points due to Skeeter Skimmer being in defense mode, he could still make an opening for Luna. He gave Yuya an excited grin.

"You may have stopped Celfon's attack, but now that Skeeter Skimmer's in defense mode, it's effect can't stop my next attack! Battle! Morphtronic Radion attack Skeeter Skimmer!"

Radion began spinning its radio around like a mace as it leaped over to try and finish what Celfon had started. However, Leo should known that Yuya wasn't going to make it that easy for him.

"Trap Card Open! Performance Pirouette! This card allows me to target one Performapal monster I control and change it's battle position! And I'll use its effect to target my Performapal Skeeter Skimmer to switch it from defense to attack mode."

Skeeter Skimmer quickly jumped up from it's sitting position as Radion closed the distance between them.

"Now I activate Skeeter Skimmer's Effect to switch him back into defense mode to negate your attack once again!"

Just as Radion swung it's radio-mace at Skeeter Skimmer, it quickly switched modes and a barrier surrounded Yuya's monster, forcing the weapon away from Skeeter Skimmer as it's effect negated Leo's attack. Yuya shut his eyes for a moment a he smiled at Leo's stunned expression.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you Leo?"

Leo frowned slightly. Leo never thought his attacks would be stopped so easily. Though, now that he really stopped to think about it, Leo should've realized that Yuya would have had a trap in place to protect Skeeter Skimmer from being destroyed. Now he out of attacks and nothing in his hand that he could use to destroy Yuya's monster, leaving him with no other options. Maybe Luna would have better luck next turn now that he had forced Yuya into giving up one of his face down cards.

He looked back down at his hand, with these cards she should be able to get around Yuya's defenses. Leo smiled, this 2-on-1 duel was proving to have it's advantages. Due to the fact that they were two duelist to Yuya's one, the odds seemed to be more in their favor.

"I set 3 cards face down! Turn End."

 **Leo – 2**

Finally it was Luna's turn to start. She gave Yuya a determined look she drew her first card.

"It's my turn now! Draw!"

Luna looked down at the card she drew and saw her trustworthy partner, Kuribon. Now she was sure that her and Leo could win this. It was time to go on offensive!

"First, I normal summon Sunlight Unicorn in attack mode!"

 **Sunlight Unicorn: (1800/1000)**

Next, I activate Sunlight Unicorn's special effect! Once per turn, I can look at the top card of my deck, and if it's an equip spell card, I can add it to my hand."

Luna put her hand on the top of her deck before closing her eyes, hoping to she would get the card she wanted. She picked up the card before opening her eyes to take a look. She smiled, before flipping the card over to show Yuya.

"The card on the top was the equip spell United We Stand! So I can now add it to my hand."

Yuya was impressed, United We Stand was one of the best equip spells in the game. That Luna was able to access it on her first turn spoke well of her skills as a duelist. Luna then continued with the next phase of her plan.

"Now I activate United We Stand and equip it to Sunlight Unicorn! Then it gains 800 points of ATK pont for every monster on our side of the field. And since there are 3 monsters, Sunlight Unicorn power increases by 2400 points!"

Luna's monster was suddenly surrounded by a white aura as the magic of United We Stand took effect.

 **Sunlight Unicorn: (4200/1000)**

"Battle! Sunlight Unicorn, attack Yuya's Skeeter Skimmer! And just for good measure, I'll activate a spell card! Quick-Play Magic, Mystical Space Typhoon! And I'll use it to target your remaining face-down card."

A giant typhoon appeared and was moving to destroy his face-down card. Yuya just smiled when he saw what her strategy was, too bad it wouldn't work.

"Spell Card Open! Quick-Play Magic, Evasion! When a monster declares an attack, I can target that monster on the field and negate it's attack. And the monster I choose is...Sunlight Unicorn!"

The howling winds destroyed Yuya's spell. However, Mystical Space Typhoon could only destroy a spell or trap card, not negate it's activation. And since Yuya had activated it before Luna's spell could go through, it was already too late to stop it's effects.

Just as Sunlight Unicorn was about to finally destroy Yuya's monster, it dodged the attack. Sunlight Unicorn leapt back over to Luna's side of the field. Now it was Luna's turn to be surprised as her plan had fallen apart by Yuya's counter-strategy. Yuya just smiled at her expression.

"I must say I'm impressed Luna. It was good idea to try and use your spell card to try and get rid of my face-down. However, I knew if I was forced to use Performance Pirouette that I had to have something in reserve just in case."

Luna was speechless, the strategy that would allowed her to destroy his monster and clear the field of his face-down had been thwarted just as easily as her brother's had. And to top it off, neither twin had been able to put a dent in his life points despite the advantage had over him. This duel was turning out to be a lot more difficult than they'd thought it would be.

Luna inspected her hand. She didn't have anything else she could use this turn due to them due to all being monsters and she had already normal summoned once already. She had no choice but to end her turn. Thankfully though, they still had Sunlight Unicorn and it's 4600 ATK point advantage and she didn't think Yuya could summon a monster powerful enough to defeat it, so Leo and her were safe for now.

"Turn End."

 **Luna - 4**

Yuya moved his hand in preparation for his next draw phase.

"My turn! Draw!"

He looked to see what had gotten and saw that it was one of the cards he had found during his journey through the Synchro Dimension, when he and the others had been locked up in the Facility by Roget. Now he was glad he had held onto it as it was a pretty useful card.

Thought of his next were interrupted when he heard Luna's voice calling out to him from the other side of the field.

"Yuya! I just want you to know that, even if we've known each other for less than a day, I think your a powerful duelist. So please, don't hold back! I know Leo probably told you about my condition, but I don't want you to restrain herself just for my sake. I want you to come at us with everything you've got!"

Leo and Yuya were startled by her request. He wondered how she knew, but figured it was likely she knew her brother well enough to know that he would tell Yuya in order to protect her. Leo was looking at his sister, a little concerned, but smiled in resignation when realized it was hopeless to hide something like that from her. He looked back toward Yuya before giving the older teen a nod to let him know he was okay with it. Yuya seeing that Leo show no signs of protest, decided to go along with Luna's request.

"Well, when you put it that way, how could I refuse? It wouldn't do not to give my audience the performance they've been waiting for! So I'll's start this off by setting on one card face-down. Then I activate the continuous spell card, Bubble Barrier! Once per turn, every Performapal monster I control cannot be destroyed by battle or card effects. I also take no battle damage from attacks involving Performapal monsters."

Three large bubbles emerged from the spell card, surround each of Yuya's monsters win a protective barrier.

"Now I activate the spell card, Cup of Ace! This card allows me to flip coin and if it's head I get to 2 cards but if it's tails you two draw 2 cards instead."

A coin appeared on Yuya's side of the field before it started flipping. It hit the ground as it landed on heads. Yuya gave the twin's grin.

"Since it landed on heads, I now draw 2 cards from my deck."

Yuya then drew two cards and placed them in his hand before seeing what it he got. He smiled as he saw that they were Performapal Whip Snake and Double Summon. This meant he would be able to summon Elphammer due to Double Summon allowing him an additional normal summon this turn. Which was possible thanks to Elphammer's effect allowing him to normal summon it without a tribute as long as he had two Performapal Monsters face-up on the field. In addition, he could use Whip Snake's effect to deal all their monsters at the same time.

"And the fun has only just begun! Now it's time to introduce the stars of today's show. First, let's give a warm welcome to Performapal Whip Snake as I normal summon him in Attack mode!"

The Twin's watched as Yuya's new monster appeared. It looked like a purple cobra wearing a top hat and bow tie with a handle at the end of its tail. A new bubble surrounded it as the magic of Bubble Barrier took effect.

 **Performapal Whip Snake: (1700/900)**

"Next I play the spell card, Double Summon that allows me to make an additional normal summon this turn. It's time to welcome my next performer to the stage! Since I now have two face-up Performapals the field, I can normal summon Performapal Elphammer from my hand without a tribute in attack mode!"

Leo and Luna were surprised when yet another monster appeared on Yuya's side of the field followed by Bubble Barrier providing it with it's own protective barrier. This one appeared like an elephant dressed in a suit jacket and top hat with a hammer at the end of it's trunk. It was also pretty strong for a level 6 monster.

 **Performapal Elphammer: (2600/1800)**

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Now that all our stars have arrived, it's time to begin the show! And for our next trick, we're going to make all the cards on my opponent's field disappear!"

Both twins were confused, how did Yuya think he was going to accomplish that? He had no spells or traps on the field and none of his monsters were strong enough to beat Sunlight Unicorn's 4600 ATK points. Though Luna had a feeling they were about to find out.

"Now I switch Skeeter Skimmer to attack mode! Then I activate the effect of Performapal Whip Snake! One per turn, during either player's Main Phase, Whip Snake can Target 1 face-up monster on the field and switch it's attack points with it's defense points. And I choose Leo's Morphtronic Radion!"

Whip Snake cracked his tail against Radion, However, even though it's stats were switched it's still gained 800 ATK points due to its effect, making its ATK points the same as Whip Snake's

 **Morphtronic Radion: (1700/1000)**

"Battle! Elphammer attack Sunlight Unicorn!"

The siblings were startled by the move. It made no sense! Even though it couldn't be destroyed in battle and Yuya wouldn't take damage thanks to his spell card, Elphammer it was nowhere near strong enough to destroy Luna's monster. So what was he hoping to accomplish with this attack? When Yuya spoke next their confusion turned to astonishment.

"Now I activate Elphammer's special effect! You see when Elphammer declares an attack, I can use its effect to return all spell and trap cards my opponent controls back to their hand."

Both twins could only watch as Elphammer slammed his hammer-shaped trunk on the ground and their spell and trap cards were forced off the field. With United We Stand no longer equipt Sunlight Unicorn's ATK points returned to their original value.

 **Sunlight Unicorn: 1800/1000**

They quickly placed the cards back into their respective hands as Yuya's monster charged before swinging its hammer-trunk into Sunlight Unicorn destroying it instantly. Luna cried out as her monster was sent to the grave and her lifepoints decreased by 800.

"Sunlight Unicorn!"

 **Luna: 3200**

 **Leo: 4000**

 **Yuya: 8000**

But this performance hadn't reached it's climax just yet.

"The shows not over yet my friends! Battle! Whip Snake attack Morphtronic Radion!"

The purple serpent swiftly struck out at itself around Leo's monster as it counterattacked before it disappeared after being struck by Whip Snake's tail while the other monster was simply pushed backwards from the clash. Normally, both monsters would been destroyed due their ATK points being the same, but due to Bubble Barrier Yuya's monster was able to survive the contest. And that Radion was gone, the ATK points Celfon gained due it's effect returned to normal.

 **Morphtronic Celfon: (100/100)**

"Now it's time to wrap up the first act! Battle! Skeeter Skimmer attack Morphtronic Celfon!

Skeeter Skimmer quickly skated over to Celfon, using its wings as propulsion to move it forward, and rammed it's stinger into Celfon's chest, destroying it. Leo's life points lowered by 400 points.

 **Leo: 3600**

 **Luna: 3200**

 **Yuya: 8000**

It was just as Yuya had predicted. The twin's fields where now completely empty, they were shocked by how in one turn he managed to completely turn the tables on them. Leo and Luna looked toward each other, this just proved how much he had been holding back on them if he was able to do this much to them. They nodded to each other before turning back toward Yuya, now more determined than ever to beat him now that he had shown them what he was truly capable of.

"And that concludes the first act! Turn End."

 **Yuya - 0**

As Leo started his draw phase he gave Yuya a grin.

"My turn! Draw!"

Leo looked down and saw that he had drawn one of his 3 tuner monsters, Morphtronic Scopen. Perfect!

"Now it's time for our comeback! First, I play the spell card Junk Box! This card allows me to special summon 1 level 4 or lower Morphtronic monster from graveyard. However, it's destroyed during my end phase. Now return! Morphtronic Celfon in attack mode!"

The yellow cellphone reappeared on Leo's field before swiftly morphing back into the robot with the dial pad on it's chest.

 **Morphtronic Celfon: (100/100)**

"Now I activate it's effect! Support Call!"

The dial on Celfon's chest flashed as it rapidly cycled through the numbers once again. This time though it landed on a 4.

"Nice! I flip the top four cards of my deck, and if their is a Morphtronic monster among them I can special summon it to the field."

Leo looked at the cards he flipped and smiled when he saw a Morphtronic monster among them.

"Alright! I special summon Morphtronic Datatron in defense mode!"

A new monster appeared that looked like a Zippo lighter, since it was in defense position it didn't transform like the other monster's Leo had summoned.

 **Morphtronic Datatron: (1200 / 600)**

"I now normal summon the tuner monster Morphtronic Scopen from my hand."

The next monster Leo summoned looked like microscope before it suddenly transformed to gaining arms and legs in the process but otherwise looked unchanged.

 **Morphtronic Scopen: (800/1400)**

Yuya smiled. It looked like Leo was going for a synchro summon. Yuya's thought came to a halt when Leo did something unexpected.

"I activate Morphtronic Datatron's defense effect! Once per turn, I can deal 300 points of damage to my opponent. Go Flare Shot!"

Suddenly, the lid of Datatron's lighter form opened before unleashing a burst of flames that washed over Yuya's body as it burned him for 300 points of damage.

"Tch!"

 **Yuya: 7700**

 **Leo: 3600**

 **Luna: 3200**

Leo grinned as he managed to get the first shot on Yuya since the game had begun.

"Now It's time for some synchro action! I tune my level 3 Datatron, my level 1 Celfon, and my level 3 Scopen!

The monsters bodies disappeared leaving only glowing stars as they were surrounded by three rings. As the stars passed through the rings and outline of a monster began to appear. Leo began to chant.

"Docking strength with courage to protect the world's peace! Synchro Summon! Come Forth! Envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"

A large robotic dragon appeared on Leo's side of the field. Yuya grinned, even though he knew he had to defeat it, it didn't mean he thought it wasn't cool. After all, no one could deny it looked strong from this viewpoint.

"So this is your ace monster. Got to say, it looks kinda awesome."

 **Power Tool Dragon: (2300/2500)**

Leo grinned as he saw Yuya's expression at seeing his ace monster. Not many people understood Power Tool Dragon's appeal, and it was nice to know at least someone appreciated his favorite monster. No one other than Luna knew this but when Leo summoned Power Tool Dragon it seemed to watch over him. Leo wasn't sure, but sometimes he swore Power Tool was more life-like than his other monsters and seemed to respond to whenever Leo spoke to him. He quickly put aside thought's about his dragon's strange behavior in order to focus on beating Yuya.

"Yeah, and now I'm going to show you how awesome he really is! I activate Power Tool Dragon's special effect! Once per turn, I can reveal 3 Equip Spell Cards from my deck then my opponent must randomly choose 1 card from those 3 and i then add that card to my hand. The rest are shuffled back into my deck."

Three cards ejected themselves from Leo's deck, Leo showed them to Yuya before turning them over and presenting them to Yuya.

"So which one will you choose."

Yuya looked at the cards from a few seconds before deciding.

"The one on the left."

Leo nodded before putting the rest back into his deck which the duel disk automatically shuffled.

"Thanks. Now I activate the equip spell card, Gravity Blaster! This spell permanently increases the ATK points of 1 Machine- Type monster by 400, even if it leaves the field or Power Tool Dragon becomes immune to card effects. Also, If Power Tool Dragon attacks an opponent's monster, that monster's effects are negated during the Battle Phase."

 **Power Tool Dragon: (2700/2500)**

Yuya was impressed. Leo had not only had not only found a way around Elphammer's bouncing effect on his equip spells, but if Yuya attacked with Elphammer he could continue permanently powering up his dragon so that Yuya couldn't destroy it easily.

"Since I can't destroy your monsters or inflict battle damage thanks to your spell card, it would be useless for Power Tool to attack in this situation. So I set two face-down cards. Turn End."

 **Leo - 0**

Luna was staring at Power Tool Dragon with a slightly sad expression, she wished she could find Ancient Fairy Dragon. But no matter where she looked, she could never find her. But until she did, Luna would never give up on trying to find her lost friend. She then brought her thoughts back to the duel as she began her draw phase.

"My turn now! Draw!

She looked and saw that she had drawn another spell card. She looked over and smiled at her brother, who upon seeing her expression gave her a thumbs up. She turned looked over at Yuya, who was watching her with interest.

"First, I summon Armored White Bear in Attack mode!"

A large bear wearing power armor appeared on her side of the field.

 **Armored White Bear: (1800 / 1400)**

"Then, I activate United We Stand once again and equip it to my Armored White Bear. And since there are two monsters on our field, my monster's ATK points increase by 1600."

 **Armored White Bear: (3400/1400)**

"Next, I activate a another spell card! Quick-Play Magic, Twister! For the cost of 500 life points, I can destroy one spell or trap card on your side of the field. And I choose Bubble Barrier! Now our monsters are free to destroy your monsters and your life points!"

 **Yuya: 7700**

 **Luna: 2700**

 **Leo: 3600**

A tornado appeared and sucked up Yuya's spell card before destroying it. Yuya frowned a little at the loss Bubble Barrier's protection but it was an acceptable one. He still had other options to deal with the twin's attacks. Luna smiled at finally putting a crack in Yuya's seemingly impenetrable defense.

"Battle! Armored White Bear attack Yuya's Elphammer!"

The Armored Bear's claws glowed at it rushed toward Elphammer. It was at this time Leo decided throw in his support.

"Now it's time for some tag team dueling! I activate the trap card, Metalmorph! When this card is activated I can target on face-up monster on the field and equip it to the monster. That monster then gains 300 ATK and DEF points while this card is on the field. And if that monster attacks, it gains half the attack points of the monster it targets for an attack during the damage step."

Luna's monster gained a metallic sheen as Metalmorph's effects increased it's power signifigantly as it directed it's attack toward Elphammer.

 **Armored White Bear: (5100/1400)**

Yuya quickly moved to stop Luna before her monster's attack could finish landing.

"I activate Skeeter Skimmer's effect once again to negate your monster's attack!"

The twin's cringed as they had been so focused on getting rid of his spell card that they had forgotten about Skeeter Skimmer's attack negation effect. Yuya's monster switched into defense mode and a barrier formed around Elphammer throwing Luna's monster back over to her side of the field.

Luna was disappointed at not being able to break completely through Yuya's defenses. However, she figured that now that his spell card was gone, even if he used Elphammer's ability to send their spell and trap cards back to their hands, that Leo could still summon a powerful enough monster next turn and equip it with Gravity Blaster, it could destroy Yuya's Skeeter Skimmer without it being able to defend itself with it's effect.

Then, Leo would be able use Power-Tool Dragon's effect to add another random equip card to his hand and possible give it an even greater power boost, allowing him to take out Elphammer once and for all. All the while taking a good chunk out his life points. Then all it would take would be for her to summon a monster with enough ATK power and her United We Stand equip spell and Leo's Metalmorph trap to take out Yuya's Whip Snake and the rest of his life points.

Now she just hoped they lasted til Leo's next turn. Though she had a feeling they hadn't even seen a fraction of what Yuya could do. For now she could only hope for the best.

"Turn End."

 **Luna - 3**

Yuya closed his eyes and smiled as he started his turn.

"My turn! Draw!"

Yuya opened his eyes to see that he had drawn another new, yet familiar, card his monsters had created for him. It was also exactly what he needed in order to end this duel once and for all.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! It's seems the time has come to for the final act of this grand performance!"

When the twins heard this, they suddenly had a sinking feeling that he wasn't bluffing.

"First, I switch Skeeter Skimmer back to attack mode. Then I use the effect of Perfomapal Whip Snake to switch his ATK and DEF points until the End Phase."

Whip Snake cracked it's tail at it's fellow Performapal, causing it to it's ATK with it's DEF.

 **Performapal Skeeter Skimmer: (1600/500)**

"Next I reveal my face-down card, Performance Hurricane! This spell allows me to target as many cards as there are Performapal monsters on my opponent's side of the field and return those cards to their hand. And since I have three Performapal monsters I can target up to three cards on your field. And I chose Power Tool Dragon, Leo's face-down card, and Armored White Bear!"

The twin's hope of victory was scattered to the wind and Yuya's spell blew Power Tool Dragon back to Leo's Extra Deck, while his face-down and Luna's Armored White Bear returned to their hands. Their equip spells where destroyed as a result of Yuya removing the monsters from the field.

"Battle! Performapal Elphammer attack Leo directly!"

Leo backed up a bit as Elphammer started charging straight for him.

"Now I activate Quick-Play Magic, Bi-Attack! This card allows me to target one monster on field and doubles it's ATK every time it battles during this turns Battle Phase. And the monster I choose to target is, Performapal Elphammer!"

 **Performapal Elphammer: (5200/1800)**

Leo fell backwards as Elphammer advanced on his position before it swung it's hammer-trunk at him knocking his flat on his back. Leo stared up at the sky as his life points depleted.

 **Leo: 0**

 **Luna: 2700**

 **Yuya: 7700**

Luna braced herself for what was coming knowing she was next. Yuya did not disappoint.

"Battle! Performapal Whip Snake! Performapal Skeeter Skimmer attack Luna's life points directly!"

Both monsters leaped toward her. First, Whip Snake struck her with it tail followed up shortly by Skeeter Skimmer knocking her on her back right beside Leo.

 **Leo: 0**

 **Luna: 0**

 **Yuya: 7700**

"Ladies and Gentlemen, today's performance has now come to a close! We hope you've enjoyed the show."

Leo and Luna watched as they sitting up when Yuya and all three of his monsters took a bow, with the monster's all taking off their top hats as they saluted the twins. Despite the fact they lost they couldn't help but smile at Yuya's antics. Watching the twin's smile made Yuya feel sense of warm and content. This was the kind of dueling that he and his father believed in, bringing joy and happiness everyone.

* * *

After the duel ended, Yuya moved over to Leo and Luna as the twins picked themselves up. Yuya looked at Luna before asking if she was okay.

"Are you alright, Luna? It wasn't too much for you was it?"

The young girl shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. In fact, I feel better than I have been in a long time. I don't feel any pain or tiredness and can even raise this heavy Duel Disk without much trouble now. That probably the most fun duel I've had in a long time.

Leo, hearing how much his sister had enjoyed dueling with Yuya despite losing, was glad that Luna got have fun since due to her condition, she didn't get to participate much in real duels often.

"Yeah, Yuya it was an awesome duel! It seemed like you always a step or two ahead of us each step of the way and putting on a show in order to entertain us. I never knew you were so strong! No matter what we came at you with you always seemed to have some hidden trick up your sleeve! It kind of reminded me of going to a carnival or a circus."

Suddenly a new voice spoke out across from where Yuya and the twin's standing.

"Indeed."

Stepping out into the light from inside their apartment was a short, effeminate-looking man resembling a clown or jester. He wore red lipstick, had two red lines running vertically over both his eyes, and spiky purple hair. He also wore a red coat with a black collar and gold trim, underneath that he wore white shirt with gold lining, gloves, and black and gold boots. Despite his rather comical appearance, Yuya got the impression that this was a rather important man in Neo Domino City. The man studied Yuya with a rather interested look.

"Yes, your play style does indeed remind one of the thrill of performing at the circus. I myself used to perform in the circus myself along with my parents and siblings. Sadly, the business didn't quite draw in the crowds like it used to, so I was forced to retire my act to support myself and family. However, even though times were hard, I'll always remember those days rather fondly."

Yuya was surprised when his newfound skills at reading people told him that the stranger was being surprising candid about his past of working in the circus.

"I'm sad to hear that, I think I would've liked to have seen your act. Judging from your build, I'm guessing your trained in classical equilibristics?"

The man looked surprised by Yuya's apparent insight before giving light chuckle.

"Why yes young man, I used perform quite a few balancing acts. I've found that these skills have served me well in my new profession."

He gave a slight bow to Yuya as he introduced himself.

"But where are my manners? My name is Yeager, Sector Security, Head of Special Investigations."


	6. Root of friendship

**This chapter has been beta'd by MathiasNightlord01**

* * *

The moment Yeager mentioned he worked for Sector Security, Yuya schooled his face in order to keep the others from noticing how alert he'd become. His experiences with the Security Bureau of his timelines Synchro Dimension didn't leave him with a good impression. And based on what the twins told him last night about Sector Security possibly dragging him off to a place called 'The Facility' if he had been caught trespassing in Tops, he guessed that the Sector Security of this time wasn't much different. he was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Luna's voice.

"Yuya? Are you alright?"

He must not have been able to keep his surprise as hidden as he'd thought, because he noticed the Twins expressions had changed out of the corner of his eye. Luna, who had been watching Yuya closely, had noticed Yuya's the change in his demeanor when Yeager had mentioned his job. She seemed quite concerned about her friends reaction and Leo wasn't expression wasn't much different even though he didn't know why Yeager's profession would cause Yuya's sudden shift in behavior.

"I'm fine Luna, just a little surprised is all. I mean it's not everyday people get a visit from a high-ranking official such as Yeager-san very often."

Yuya shook off his surprise and gave the twin's smile before bowing briefly toward Yeager in a polite greeting.

"I am Sakaki Yuya, pleased to meet you Yeager-san."

Yeager smiled at Yuya's greeting before walking forward slighting.

"Pleased to meet you as well. I must say Yuya-san, I'm quite impressed with your skills as a duelist."

Yuya observed Yeager as he came to a stop not a few feet from Yuya. The young man was unsure of how to deal with this man even though he seemed to be honest in his compliments on Yuya's skills, which he had a feeling this man didn't had out very often. Yuya chuckled a little before replying.

"Thank you for your kind words, though I must admit I am curious as to why a high-ranking official such as yourself is doing here in Tops. Has something happened?"

Yeager blinked slightly at Yuya before waving off Yuya's apparent concern with a calming gesture.

"Oh no, everything's fine Yuya-san. While I am here on official business, it's nothing you should be concerned over. I'm just here to deliver these to Leo and Luna here."

Yeager then reached into his pocket before pulling out two identical envelopes and presenting them to the twins. Leo and Luna hesitated for a moment before accepting them. They quickly opened them to find two invitations at a special tournament. Both siblings looked shocked as they looked over at Yeager, who grinned at their expressions.

"Leo-san, Luna-san. It is my pleasure to hereby invite you to participate in the upcoming Fortune Cup, sponsored by Sector Security Director, Rex Goodwin. Whoever wins the tournament will get the chance to officially face-off against Jack Atlas for the title of King, or Queen as the case maybe."

Yuya's raised an eyebrow at the Head of Special Investigations words. So Jack was the Duel King in this world too huh? Yuya wondered what if this Jack would be like the one he knew. But he guessed he would find out soon enough with the way things were going. When Yuya heard about this Fortune Cup tournament it sounded awfully similar to the Friendship Cup he had participated in only a week or and a half ago, but he wasn't quite he should make assumptions based on experiences in an alternate timeline. However, he he figured he should keep his eyes open in case their were any similarities. Wouldn't want Leo or Luna to be sent to an underground trash processing plant if they happened to lose.

Yuya then noticed Yeager was observing him closely. Leo and Luna were too distracted by the unexpected invitations to notice the silent inspection going on between the two older men. Yuya tilted his head as he addressed the security official.

"Is something wrong Yeager-san?"

Yeager frowned slightly before pulling out a small device which emitted a holographic screen. He then quickly typed in some information before narrowing his eyes and looking back at Yuya. The look made Yuya slightly nervous.

"Yuya-san I'm curious, why is it there seems to be no record of you in the bureau's database. Normally, we would have at least a small personnel file listing them as residents and were they live in case of an emergency situation. There is also seems to be no record of you entering Tops. Which is strange considering this is one of the most of the most secure areas in Neo Domino City. Care to explain?"

Yuya's mind went into overdrive trying to think of a suitable excuse when Leo jumped in. The youngster had shaken off the surprise at being invited to such a huge event when he heard Yeager's comments on Yuya's lack of documentation and quickly came up with a cover story. After all, he didn't want his friend arrested.

"That would be our fault Yeager-san. You see Yuya's a friend whose just recently arrived in the city and we asked our parent's if they could offer him a job. You see since our parents aren't around a lot due their jobs and Luna's condition makes it hard for her to go to school and I didn't want to leave her all by herself so I stay with her. So our parent decided to have him look after us here until he could find his own place."

Leo scratched the back of his head as he chuckled slightly. Yeager looked over toward him surprised as the boy continued.

"We meant tell the guard downstairs he was coming but we couldn't find him at his post. I think it might have been a shift change since it was pretty late. We were going to inform him about Yuya's staying here but we sort of got caught up in dueling and sort of forgot. I hope we didn't cause any trouble."

Yeager thought over Leo's story. It seemed plausible enough though he wondered if Yuya arrival last night had anything to do with the spike in Ener-D readings. For now though, there wasn't much evidence against Yuya to warrant a trip to the facility. It would seem it was time for a little chat with the officers assigned here, as they seemed to have gotten lax if someone like Yuya could get past them so easily. He gave Leo a slight sigh.

"Very well, just make sure this doesn't happen again. Friend or not, the security measures are there for a reason. Also make sure he check-in with the officer on duty to ensure this doesn't happen again."

Yuya inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed he was safe for now. The twins both nodded toward Yeager. The older man gave them a stern look before addressing them once more.

"Well, now that that's settled I believe my business here is concluded. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off. There are important matters that require my attention."

He looked toward Yuya.

"Well, young man I hope you enjoy your stay in Neo Domino City."

Yuya nodded as the older man walked off toward the elevator inside. After Yeager disappeared from view, Yuya turned to Leo and gave him a smile.

"Thanks for the save Leo. That was some quick thinking."

Leo just grinned as Luna sighed. The three then decided to go back inside to discuss the upcoming tournament.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Yeager waited for the elevator to arrive on the bottom floor he pulled out his communicator.

"This is Yeager, I want you to dig up anything you can find on a Sakaki Yuya. It might be related to a case we're investigating. Also assign a plain clothes officer to observe and report back on the subject. I'll send you the details along with a photo of the subject in question."

 _"Yes sir, we'll dispatch someone right away to observe the subject right away."_

"Very good, see that it's done."

He turned off the communicator and placed in back in his jacket. While he had let Yuya off the hook for the moment, the young man's sudden arrival and lack of records in conjunction with the fact that he had appeared around the same time as the strange Ener-D readings in the Tops Area couldn't be mere coincidence. Add in the fact that he'd been sheltered by two suspected Signers and the evidence pointed toward something larger going on. For now though, he would just have to wait and see what his observers reported before bringing it up with Director Goodwin.

After reaching the ground floor and giving the guard on duty a through reprimand. He pulled out his communicator again as he made his way toward the car waiting for him. It was time to check-up on another investigation his department was working.

"Kazuma-san, have you had any progress in finding the one we've been looking for?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuya and the twins were currently resting in the twin's apartment. Even after he'd left, Yuya was still thinking of his encounter with Yeager. It had been a close call but hopefully he wouldn't draw anymore attention to himself than he already had.

"At least Yeager doesn't seem bad as Roget was..."

"Hmm? Did you remember something Yuya?"

Leo voice brought Yuya from his musing. He was begining to think this was going to be a pattern with them. However, it did remind Yuya that he was supposed to be recovering from amnesia. He turned toward Leo with a smile.

"Actually, I did manage to remember some things about my past during our duel. So I guess your idea worked though a few things are still fuzzy but overall my memories seem to be returning."

Leo grinned, ecstatic about his plan's apparent success. Yuya didn't believe he would mind revealing the truth to the twins, or at least most it. There was somethings about his past he thought that he'd never really be comfortable sharing with others. The memories were simply too painful.

"Yuya, are you sure your alright? You seemed tense during our conversation with Yeager-san."

Yuya paused for moment before regaining his composure, it seemed he hadn't schooled his expression well enough to fool Luna during the conversation earlier. It appeared that the young girl had a knack for reading people. He shook his head as he addressed the younger girl.

"No, I'm alright. Thank you for your concern though. I just had a feeling of uneasiness concerning the situation is all. Without Leo's quick thinking I'm not sure how I could explain my being here without Yeager-san becoming suspicious. It nothing to worry yourself over Luna."

Luna frowned. She was sure he wasn't telling them the whole truth about what was bothering him. However, she also noticed that whatever it was that was seemed personal, so she decided to drop the subject for now.

"Alright. Though if ever need anything just let us know. We're friends after all."

Yuya smiled at her response. He was thankful that she respected his privacy enough to drop the subject even though they only just met. He closed his eyes and sighed as he got to his next part was going to be harder than he thought it would be even though only been less than a day since he had arrived in this time and met the twins. After picking up his Duel Disk and heading toward the door, he looked back over toward the confused siblings.

"Leo, Luna, I thank you for your help last night and just now with Yeager-san. However, I believe it's time that I went on my way. There are still things I need to figure out on my own and I can't do that here."

He knew that he could stay here, since the twins didn't mind having him around. However, now that Yeager knew that he was here, the story Leo gave for him being there wouldn't hold up to scrutiny from Security Bureau. He had to leave before he brought trouble to the people that had helped him.

The twins were surprised by the suddenness of his decision to part ways with them after having just met them. They immediately rose from their seats to object his course of action. Leo was the first to voice their argument against Yuya's idea.

"But Yuya, what happens if Security finds out about you? If they find out that the story we gave them isn't true they'll arrest you! Probably before sending you of to the Facility."

Yuya sighed. Leo's argument for him staying had one flaw. When Security eventually did find out, and he was pretty certain they would, that his cover story for being in Tops was false. Staying at the twin's place would just make him easier to find before subsequently arresting him. The fact that the cover story was paper-thin just made the urgency of his departure that much greater.

Luna, seeing that he wasn't convinced by Leo's reasoning, figured that if they couldn't prevail upon him to stay with them, they could at least give him a little assistance. She gestured for Yuya to wait a moment.

"Yuya, if you truly feel that you have to go, we won't stop you. But before you do I want to give you something. Please wait here while I get it."

Luna then rushed out of the living room toward parent's bedroom. After a few minutes of waiting Luna returned before presenting Yuya with what appeared to be an access card along with a small bundle of cash. Yuya inspected them with a slightly surprised look wondering if he should accept them offered gift. Luna expressed her determination at his expression.

"Even though I don't believe your being entirely honest about why your leaving, I want to help you however I can. Because your our friend and I have a feeling we can trust you. This should help you a little. But if you ever feel like visiting, know that you'll always be welcome here. The card should allow you access next time without the Security Bureau getting suspicious."

Yuya looked at Luna's determined face and just knew he couldn't refuse her gift after such kind words to someone she only just met a few hours ago. He accepted the card and cash before looking back toward the two siblings.

"Thanks Luna, Leo for your help and for the gift. It really means a lot."

Leo just grinned while Luna gave Yuya a smile smile.

"Just promise you'll come visit us sometime. I don't know if you've noticed but it can get kind of boring around here by ourselves."

Yuya grinned at Luna's little joke. She had surprised him when she said they could trust him. It had been a little hard for him to accept how easily they had given it to him. Though, now that he thought about it, the twin's seemed to only have each other most of the time with their parents constantly working and very few friends to visit. There was also the fact that the twins were Signers could have something to do with their trust in him. After all, the Crimson Dragon had brought him to their door for a reason. He figured that given all these factors, it wasn't really that unexpected that they had bonded with him so quickly. It seemed as though that they had chosen him to big brother figure to look up to, so who was he to disappoint them. He patted Luna's head.

"Don't worry, you won't get rid of me that easily. I'll be sure to come by as often as I can."

He waved as he exited the door leaving the twin's to ponder other things, reassured in the knowledge that Yuya would be back soon. Leo turned to his sister as she made her way back toward the living room.

"So Luna, what are you going to do about the Fortune Cup?..."

* * *

After Yuya took the elevator back down to the ground floor, the teen checked-in with the guard station near the entrance. He apologized to the man for not informing him of his being there the night before. The guardsman had clearly expected this visit, probably after word with his superior no doubt. The man let him off with a warning and told him to check-in with him next time. Afterwards, Yuya departed toward someplace where he could access more information about the era he was in. He'd realized after dueling with the Twin's that while this time shared many similarities to the Synchro Dimension of his time, there were subtle differences that could cause people to think he was acting strangely and thus bring more attention to himself than he was comfortable with.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a voice dripping with malice made itself known.

 _"You shouldn't lie to kids, Yuya."_

The young duelist blinked in surprise when he heard the voice in his mind. However, after noticing a glow coming from his deck and recognizing the presence, he relaxed.

"I didn't lie Stare Venom, I fully intend on keeping my promise. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we run into them fairly soon. The fact that they are Signers make the odds of us seeing them again almost an absolute certainty. The Crimson Dragon said that the Dark Signers and the Earthbound Immortals would be awakening sometime in the near future. Besides..."

Yuya's face gave off a sad expression as he thought about Leo and Luna's situation.

"I know how it feels to be lonely. When I was their age I didn't have many friend's because of dad's disappearing before his match with Strong Ishijima. They didn't want to associate with the son of a perceived coward and I was often bullied whenever I defended my dad. It wasn't until I met my friends that things got better for me. But those two? They barely have anyone. Their parents are never around because of their work and they apparently don't see their friends at school very often because of Luna's condition. They need someone who can actually be there for them and have probably looked for someone like that for a long time."

He could hear Starve Venom growl slightly before replying.

 _"Nice speech, but can you really keep it? Yuri was lonely too you know. He was an orphan who had no family other than myself. When Yuri first came to Academia, the other students couldn't handle his strength and they shunned him for it. It wasn't until he met Serena and Leo Akaba that the loneliness started to fade from his heart. However, it never really went away even then, once he realized that the professor was only using him for his own goals."_

Yuya frowned as Starve Venom explained Yuri's history. In his experiences with his counterpart, he had thought of Yuri as vicious and self-serving. However, after hearing Starve Venom tell Yuri story, he realized just why his counterpart had been so eager to reunite with his fellow counterparts. It was because, deep down, Yuri didn't want to be lonely anymore and by joining with Yuya and the others he felt that he would never be lonely again. It was after coming to this realization that Starve Venom spoke again.

 _"I tell you this so that you'll understand when I tell you, be more wary of who you let into your confidence Yuya. If you place your trust in the wrong person, it will only cause you pain. Especially, if it's the one you trust the most. I know from looking into your heart that you possess a natural selflessness. Which is an admirable quality not often seen these days, but I noticed that you can also be somewhat naive at times, like Yuri used to be before Leo Akaba got his hands on him. I don't wish for what happened to Yuri happen to you too._ _You probably have nothing to fear from those children, but be mindful of who you befriend from now on._ _"_

Yuya was surprised by Starve Venom's behavior, he had expected the dragon to be harsh and vicious toward him, especially after what Tuning Magician had told Yuya earlier today.

"I'm confused, I thought you hated me Starve Venom."

The dragon's voice growled in a way that sounded like a tired sigh.

 _"No Yuya, I never hated you. Was I furious at the situation? Certainly! I was just abruptly separated from my partner and friend of 17 years and forced to obey Zarc once again when his soul took over your body. Once I calmed myself, I realized that you had been used just as surely as Yuri was through no fault of your own. The fact that you managed to destroy Zarc's evil and free Yuri from his influence for good showed you have what it takes to fight alongside me. However, if I find you starting to follow the same path Zarc did and I'll devour you! Got it!"_

Yuya smiled a bit at Starve Venom's warning. There was no chance of that happening!

"Don't worry Starve Venom, I'd rather die than become like Zarc. I hate how he treated his monsters like they were nothing more than slaves. I see my monsters as my friends, not my servants."

Yuya grinned as he heard Starve Venom roar his approval. Yuya promised to himself that he would work to prove himself worthy of the trust his newfound ally had placed in him. As he turned the corner, he noticed a local internet cafe. The young duelist, seeing that this would be the perfect opportunity to gain some information went over to rent out one of their computers and some lunch while he was at it.

Unbeknownst to Yuya. He was followed closely by an beautiful raven-haired woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late thirties wearing shades, a brown trenchcoat, cream colored pants and a red scarf. She then quickly tapped her ear wear an earwig communication device could be found.

"This is Inspector Hattori, subject appears to be entering a cybercafe. Nothing further to report, continuing observation."

After receiving confirmation from the Security Bureau headquarters, Yuya's observer continued her mission.

* * *

Yuya's idea to learn more about the timeline he was in turned out to be a good idea, as there were numerous things that were different about this era than his own timeline. Such as the Momentum project and the Zero Reverse incident that caused the creation of the nearby island known as simply as the situation between the people of the Satellite was the same as the it had been between the Tops and Commons of the Synchro Dimension, so it wasn't totally new to Yuya.

Though one could say this situation was even worse, considering that the residents of Satellite were not only living in poverty but also in a ruined city where danger lurked in every corner and the buildings could collapse at any moment. At least the commons of the Synchro Dimension weren't completely isolated from the city and had access to somewhat decent housing conditions even if wasn't ideal and they didn't have much food to eat due to the economic inequality. It was sickening to think about.

He also learned that like the Synchro Dimension, this era also had Turbo Duels. Though the rules where different with the Speed Worlds restriction to Speed Spells only and no other field spells can be played. It looked like he might need to make at least one more deck just for Turbo Duels, though he was pretty sure he could find a few loopholes that could work in his favor later on. He also looked up the general rules and forbidden lists of this era to prevent any slip ups like what happened earlier in his duel with the twins. He didn't manage to find anything that would be problematic for his style other than a few subtle differences that would change much.

Yuya also took the opportunity to look up this timeline's Jack Atlas after having heard about him from Yeager. What he found was disappointing. Unlike his timeline's counterpart, this Jack really was arrogant and thought of his opponents as little more than entertainment for himself and his fans. This Jack seemed to enjoy placing himself in tight pinches on purpose before using crushing comebacks to seize victory. Unlike his Jack, whose arrogant demeanor wasn't really arrogance at all, but annoyance at not being able to find opponent's powerful enough to truly push him beyond his limits and while his Jack had been somewhat ruthless, he also had been honorable. Though he could see hints of his Jack Atlas in this counterpart, he could definitely say that this Jack hasn't reached that point yet. He was a strong duelist he would give that but not as strong as Yuya knew he could be. He quickly moved on to inspecting the local maps of Neo Domino and quickly printed out a few copies to help him navigate his way around.

When he figured he had enough information for now, Yuya went to pay the bill for the lunch he'd ordered while he was looking for information and for the map print outs. After paying pretty young cashier around his age, Yuya left the cafe and headed towards one of the clothing shops listed on his map. Once he had found the place, he had browsed around before finding and buying a new outfit that suited his sense of style.

It consisted of an another short-sleeved, v-necked bright orange shirt with a winged collar and white edging. He replaced his jacket with a similar looking white vest with gold and red lining. He also bought a new pair of slim fit cargo pants with the same kind of deck pockets as his old ones only situation situated on both sides of his waist rather than his thighs. The only other new addition to his wardrobe was a new pair of long black breathable sweatbands he wore on his forearms next to his crimson wristbands. Yuya had retained his buckled choker, googles, belt, roller boots, and of course his pendulum pendant. He also purchased a few spares before heading out further into the city.

After a few hours he decided to rest a little on a bench in the local park. There were a few kids enjoying themselves in a nearby playground. Yuya smiled at the scene. Seeing the innocent, complicated fun the children were having relaxed him as it reminded him of simpler times. Then he saw something rather nostalgic. Two of the children, a boy and a girl, were both playing a game of Duel Monsters on a nearby picnic table. The girl was wearing a pair of hair clips that pinned her hair up into twintails along with a little pink outfit that made her look adorable. The boy was wearing a purple hoodie and shorts. The boy sighed when he seemed to have lost the duel to the girl, who was giving the boy a glowing smile. The scene reminded a lot of his own childhood whenever he would play with-

He paused as he remembered that he would probably never see his best friend again. He frowned sadly when he thought about it. Yuya's musings were interrupted when Stave Venom's decided to make himself known.

 _"Thinking of about your friend Yuya?"_

Yuya was about to contest Starve Venom's claim but the dragon cut him off before he could speak.

 _"Don't even bother trying to deny it. We're connected to each other now Yuya, you can't hide the truth from me or any of the others, we can see into your memories and know what lies within your heart probably better than even you yourself do. I'll be honest with you Yuya. It would probably be better to forget about her and move on. Dwelling on the past and how things might have been with the one you call Yuzu will only bring you more suffering."_

Yuya frowned at Stave Venom's advice. He knew the dragon was only trying to help and he knew deep down that there was no Yuzu counterpart in this timeline. But matters of the heart were not so easily resolved.

"I know I'll never see her again Stave Venom, but it isn't that simple. Yuzu was someone very precious to me and was there beside me ever since I could remember. You can't just forget someone that close to your heart so easily. It would be like me asking you to forget about Yuri."

The dragon growled but conceded that his new partner made a good argument.

 _"Yes, I can see your point. I could no more forget about Yuri and our time together than I could forget my own name. However, my argument still stands. Remember the times you had together fondly, but don't let it stop you from pursuing happiness even if it means you should happen to fall in love with someone else. After all, would your friend want you to be happy even if you couldn't be with her?"_

Yuya pondered Starve Venom's words before smiling slightly. The more he thought about it the more he realized that Starve Venom was right. Yuzu wouldn't want him to be sad because of her. She would encourage him to move on and be happy, even if she couldn't be with him herself.

"Your right, Yuzu wouldn't want me to be sad because of her. So I'll do my best to make new friends and new memories! It won't be easy but I promise I'll try and move on."

He could feel Stave Venom approval when as he reply.

 _"I'll hold you to that Yuya. Now let get out of here, there is still more we need to see."_

Yuya nodded to himself before getting up off the bench and moving away from the park just as the sun was setting in the distance. However, just as he passed the park entrance, he suddenly heard something that sounded like an explosion. He looked over and saw a dust cloud coming from about a block away from his location. From the information listed on his map it was coming from the Daimon Area, a square where a lot of street duels took place. Then, Yuya saw a bunch of people running away screaming. He didn't hesitate before running towards the disturbance.

A few meters away, Inspector Hattori cursed before running after the teen. Keeping just enough distance between them so he wouldn't get suspicious. The fleeing crowed helped cloak her movements from the subject of her surveillance.

* * *

For one Soichi Kazama, also known as Kaz by his friends and colleagues, this day couldn't possibly get any worse. First, his washing machine goes out forcing him to wear his uniform from yesterday. Then, his superior calls him up asking for an update on the Black Rose Witch investigation. When he had told Yeager that information was hard to come by as some witnesses were too terrified by what they had seen, his boss had ordered him to ramp up his efforts because the Director was taking a personal look into the case.

So Kaz decided to infiltrate the Daimon Area in plain clothes, as it would attract less attention and people would probably open up more. Plus, it gave him an excuse to leave his uniform at home while he looked for someone to fix his washing machine. After picking out some undercover clothes, he ventured out into the Daimon Area where Black Rose often hunted for victims. After a few hours of hovering around street duels and listening in to various conversations he surmised that most were treating the Black Rose Witch as an urban legend. He was about to call a quits for the day and report back to his superiors when he noticed a pair of young teenagers enter the area.

The young women looked to be about eighteen or nineteen and wearing standard disks though each having their own individual colors. It appeared as though these two were simply upper class kids looking for some street action. Kaz moved over toward them to try and scare them off since this wasn't a good place to look duels especially with the kind of crowd that liked to hang around Daimon, people like Syd Barlow and his gang.

But just as he was about to speak to them, a large explosion rocked the area knocking almost everyone off their feet. When Kaz looked toward the source of the explosion, he saw a young masked woman standing atop a pile of ruble looking down upon them like an imperious queen and a dragon with plant-like characteristics standing behind her. The crowd panicked at seeing the infamous witch and fled for their lives. He was surprised and alarmed when the young women from before run past him before he could stop them. He quickly got up and ran after them, hoping he could prevent them from making a stupid mistake. But by the time he got there they had already challenged the witch to a duel.

Seeing no choice he had announced his presence, the teens had been surprised but if Black Rose was surprised she didn't show it. She simply activated her Duel Disk as Kaz and the girls did the same.

* * *

Yuya arrived few minutes after he'd rushed to see what was happening, just in time to see a trio of duelists knocked off their feet as their life points dropped to zero. The two girls had be stunned from the shockwave while the older male among them managed to get back on his feet. The area around the duelists looked like it had been torn apart by a localized tornado, with heavy damage to the street and surrounding buildings, trres ripped up or toppled over from being sliced in half. Another thing he noticed was the huge gash left behind by the attack that had defeated the tag team of the older man and the girls. He turned to look over at their opponent.

Now that night had finally fallen, the woman silhouette along with the dragon beside her was illuminated by the moonlight. The dragon's appearance suggested an association with plants considering its rose petal feathered wings. Masked Woman was staring down the older man before she motioned for her dragon to attack. It's glowing golden eyes peered down on the barely standing man before unleashing a thorny vine toward him and the girls.

Yuya wasted no time. The young duelist quickly activated his duel disk and quickly summoned one of his own monsters to defend them.

"Come forth my faithful monster!"

* * *

Kaz closed his eyes as he the thorny vine whip toward him, promising a quick death. Suddenly, he heard a sound similar to a whip cracking and opened his eyes to see the vine knocked away by another dragon with a golden yellow orbs covering it's body.

Where did that monster come from?

* * *

Mika had just shaken off her disorientation from the Black Rose Dragon's attack when she saw the attack coming towards the undercover officer. She watched in horror as the thorny vine snapped toward the injured man. She had been about to shout for Aki to stop when an new monster appeared and knocked away Black Rose Dragon's deadly appendage. It was around this time that her friend Tera also recovered her wits and pointed back a ways toward a nearby alleyway.

"Whose that?"

Mika turned to see someone step out of the shadows of the ally. He was young man around their age with red and green hair with a serious look in his eye and he calmly strode toward where the officer was standing. He wore what looked to be a custom red Duel Disk with orange trim and an amber blade, complemented with red and green gems. It appeared that he was the one who had saved the officer as his Duel Disk was activated and a monster in play though Mika couldn't the card clearly from where she was standing. Though judging from it's summoned form, the new dragon looked powerful and vicious.

It had a dark purple complexion and its body was plant-like in several places covered with red and yellow orbs along with several with pallid yellow horns. It also had some of glowing green eyes that seemed to radiate anger and malicious intent. She then looked back over to the young duelist had summoned it with curiosity as he stepped in front of the wounded officer beside his fearsome dragon.

They exchanged a few words she couldn't make out before the officer began moving towards them. Then something happened she didn't expect, as both the mysterious youth and Aki's arms started to glow before both duelists looked at their arms in surprise.

* * *

Yuya had breathed a sign of relief when Starve Venom had managed to protect the wounded man in time. After stepping in front of the man, he glared up at the woman who had ordered the attack on her defeated opponent.

"If you want to duel someone, try picking on someone your own size."

Then Yuya addressed the other man, not taking his eyes off the woman who had taken a step back in shock that he attack had actually been blocked somehow and seemed to be eyeing him and Starve Venom with a measured sort of wariness.

"Are you alright?"

The man winced from the pain of his injuries before replying.

"I'm fine, just a little banged up. Thanks for the save, thought I was a goner there for sec."

Yuya nodded before motioning toward the two girls watching them.

"Get those two out of here, I'll deal with her."

The other man looked over to the two girls before looking back at Yuya. He seemed to look him over for a moment before coming to a decision.

"Alright, but be careful. The Black Rose Witch is no ordinary duelist. Her powers make her cards and the damage they deal become real somehow."

Yuya thought about that as the man ran off toward the girls. It sounded like what Yuto, Shun, and Kaito had demonstrated during their battles in the war. But Yuya wasn't too concerned by this knowledge. Ever since joining with Yuto he learned he could do the same thing. Plus, he was used to taking harder hits due to the monsters summoned through the ARC System of his era having greater force behind their attacks due to having actual mass.

Suddenly, Yuya felt a sharp pain lance through his arm before looking down to see something he didn't expect. On his left forearm a glowing crimson mark was forming until settled into the shape of an eye. He looked up when he heard a startled cry from where the now identified Black Rose Witch, who was looking down at her own arm that was currently glowing with a mark similar to his, only this one was in the shape of a claw.

Thunder roared across the land as the night sky darkened above the city. Starve Venom and Black Rose suddenly roared sending shock waves across the area from their resonating powers. Then, a powerful voice emanate from within the very depths of Yuya's soul that he had only heard once before.

It was the voice of the Crimson Dragon.

 _"Sakaki Yuya, with this mark I proclaim you the Seventh Signer, who bares the mark of the Dragon's Eye!"_

Unbeknownst to the two Signers and their audience, other eyes were watching as the scene unfolded before them.

* * *

Inspector Hattori stood in shocked awe at the scene she was witnessing, before quickly tapping her communicator to report what was happening to her superiors. Only to wince as all she picked up was static. She then tried her cell only to show that the lines were down.

"Damn it! Why now of all times!"

She was surprised when heard a voice nearby. She to see the Head of Special Investigations standing nearby wanting the scene unfold with great intensity.

"Yeager-sama, why are you here?!"

The lavender haired man walked up next to her before replying.

"Well, I didn't expect to see you here today Junko-chan. I was here for a progress report concerning the Black Rose Witch case. However, it seems that we've stumbled upon something even more important."

He pulled out a thin rod looking device which appeared to be a special communicator that linked directly to Director's Office. As the next thing the now identified Junko Hattori saw was the face of Director Rex Goodwin himself.

"Director, I have confirmation that the Black Rose Witch is a Signer. Also, it appears we have confirmation of another Signer of unknown origin, a young man bearing the birthmark of the Crimson Dragon's Eye."

* * *

Rex Goodwin started at the birthmarks description. That was impossible! There shouldn't be a Mark of the Dragon's Eye. He quickly typed in a command code on his keyboard before bringing up a live feed on the one of the holographic viewscreens while another showed Jack about to duel his former friend, Yusei Fudo.

What he saw shocked him, in the preservation tank where he kept his brother's severed arm, the Mark of the Crimson Dragon was glowing brightly but something about it had changed. The eye portion of the birthmark was gone!

He turned back to the screen where his subordinate was waiting for his reply.

"Continue your observation, I'm also observing two possible Signers and can't get away at the moment. Professor Akutsu reported to me a few minutes ago that the Ener-D reactor is responding to some external force. It's most likely reacting to the Crimson Dragon's power. In the meantime, I try to find out what in the world is going on."

Yeager nodded from his end.

"As you wish. Yeager out."

The screen shut down as Yeager closed the secure line. Rex frowned at this new development as he focused on the screen, where Jack and Yusei had just activated their Speed World field spells and where about to start. Was the Crimson Dragon aware of what he had planned and created a new Signer just to combat him? He had to find out more about this young man Yeager mentioned. But for now he needed to focus on

* * *

Aki hadn't expected this when she had been ordered to demonstrate her power to the criminals of the Daimon Area in her guise as the Black Rose Witch. She had encountered some resistance when the undercover security officer and her old acquaintances from Neo Domino Duel Academy had challenged her, but that had been expected. This duelist however, he was different.

When her attack had been repelled by his monster, she'd feel the immense strength that had rebuffed her Black Rose Dragon. She sensed that this person had the exact same powers she did. Then she felt it. The birthmark that was the symbol of her pain and loneliness suddenly erupt with a terrible throbbing causing her to cry out more from the surprise than from pain itself as the mark began to glow with crimson light.

She had then looked up to see the mysterious man staring back at her, his arm also baring a glowing birthmark in the form of an eye. Her eyes narrowed behind her mask. So he was cursed as well was he?

She noticed that his red and green heterochromatic eyes seemed to glow with immense power as she stared back her. This just confirmed what she suspected, he really was just like her. Though he seemed to posses a much better control over his abilities than she did. Now she she wanted to see if his abilities were as powerful as she suspected.

She extended her arm as she powered up her duel disk, signaling to his that she had accepted his challenge. Both Duelists removed their dragon's from their field before placing them back into their extra decks. The duo then placed their decks into their Duel Disk's main deck slot where the device automatically shuffled both players decks.

* * *

Yuya drew his hand as the Signer opposite him did the same. Unaware that every eye in the area was watching them with intense interest. His face took on a serious expression as he gazed at his mystery opponent.

"It's time to..."

 ** _"DUEL!"_**

 **YUYA: 4000 – 5**

 **BLACK ROSE WITCH 4000 – 5**


	7. The black rose

**This chapter has been beta'd by MathiasNightlord01**

* * *

Yuya noted that both his mark and the witch's had stopped glowing when their dragons left the field before looking down to inspect his hand. He smiled as he looked over to his opponent.

"My turn, Draw!"

 **Yuya - 6**

 **Black Rose Witch - 5**

He checked out what he had picked up and began thinking up a strategy to defeat his fellow Signer. Thankfully, the man Yuya had saved seemed to have gotten the two girls to a safe place, away from where they could possibly get hurt by the powers of the two Signers.

"First, I normal summon Performapal Hip Hippo in attack mode."

Everyone watched as a pink hippo wearing a top hat, suit vest and bowtie appeared on the field.

 **Performapal Hip Hippo: (800/800)**

"Next, when I normal summon or special summoned a Performapal monster or monsters, I can now special summon Performapal Helpprincess in attack mode."

A monster that looked like a young girl wearing a magical girl outfit carrying a staff with a winged hand at the end appeared on Yuya's field next to Hip Hippo.

 **Performapal Helpprincess: (1200/1200)**

Yuya smiled before calling out his next move. He may not be able to see his friends and family anymore but he at least had something to remember them by and this next card would always connect him with his father, no matter where he was.

 **"** Next, I activate the effect of Hip Hippo! When this card is normal summoned I can immediately tribute summon 1 Level 7 or Higher monster in face-up Attack Position during my Main Phase, in addition to my Normal Summon this turn. I now sacrifice Hip Hippo and Helpprincess to summon my good friend, Performapal Sky Magician!"

The two monster's vanished as they left the field to bring forth their more powerful comrade. This monster was four eyed masked humanoid wearing a white magician's outfit consisting of a long cape, a feathered wizard's hat, and a jacket that opened at the collar resembling the ace of spades. It also was surrounded by a bluish-white scarf wrapped around it's waist as it floated above the ground and in it's blue gloved hands it carried a chain of four large rings.

 **Performapal Sky Magician: (2500/2000)**

It's appearance reminded those who saw it of a circus ringmaster, readying his troupe for a performance. Yuya looked at the monster fondly as he recalled the memories of when his father summoned this monster during Yusho's pro-dueling days. When Yusho had been carded by Yuri, he had placed several of his dad's cards into his deck as a way of joining his father's strength with his own. He shook his head as he turned his thought's back to the duel.

"Then, I play the continuous spell card, Magician's Right Hand. While I control a Spellcaster-Type monster, each turn I can negate the effect of the first spell card or effect that resolves and if I do or the card doesn't have an effect, I can destroy it. Now I activate Sky Magician's effect! Once per turn, when I activate a continuous spell card, Sky Magician's attack points increase by 300."

 **Performapal Sky Magician: (2800/2000)**

"And to finish off, I'll place two cards face-down."

Two face-down cards appeared on either side of his spell card before Yuya looked back at his fellow Signer in challenge.

"Turn End."

 **Yuya - 0**

Yuya then heard Starve Venom's voice as he waited for his opponent to make her move.

 _"Not bad Yuya, though I wish to see how strong this Black Rose Dragon really is for myself. As a being born from the power of the Crimson Dragon, she probably possesses great power. Hopefully, she will provide me at least some challenge."_

The young duelist gave a slight chuckle at Starve Venom's comment. So he wanted to duel huh? Well that was fine with him as he didn't have many of his usual options. He didn't have many tuners to help summon Clear Wing, Odd-Eyes was viable but wasn't in his hand, and summoning Dark Rebellion was out of the question unless there was absolutely no other option available to him. So Starve Venom was his best bet, especially since Yuya had more ways to Fusion Summon than he did the other methods.

He narrowed his eyes as he waited for his opponent to make her move. Now he would just have to wait and see what this Black Rose Witch could do really do.

* * *

Aki's eyes narrowed behind her mask. She didn't recognize any of the cards he was using, and from the looks of it they seemed quite powerful despite their over-the-top appearances. However, his cards were nothing compared to the power of her deck. She stared at him for a moment before initiating her turn, speaking for the first time since the man had arrived her voice somewhat distorted thanks to the mask.

"My turn, Draw!"

 **Black Rose Witch - 6**

 **Yuya - 0**

She looked down and inspected her hand before looking over at her opponent. That spell card of his could be problematic but but her next move should be able to deal with it easily enough.

"Impressive, but I confess myself disappointed if this is all you can do. To start things off, I normal summon the tuner monster Twilight Rose Knight in attack mode."

A blue haired knight in black armor appeared on Aki's side of the field brandishing it's sword as pink rose petals swirled around it.

 **Twilight Rose Knight: (1000/1000)**

Aki smiled behind her mask. Now it was time to teach this guy not to mettle in a witch's business.

"I activate Twilight Rose Knight's special effect! When this monster is normal summoned, I can then special summon a level 4 or lower Plant-Type monster from my hand. I'll use my knight's effect to special summon Lord Poison in attack mode."

A twisted humanoid shaped plant monster with several spikes protruding from its body appeared next to Aki's knight.

 **Lord Poison: (1500/1000)**

The psychic duelist observed her opponent carefully. If he was alarmed by what he was happening, he had yet to show it. Aki frowned a little at this, let's see how long this strong front of his would last when faced with her ace.

"I now tune my level 3 Twilight Rose Knight with my level 4 Lord Poison."

Twilight Rose Knight disappeared leaving only bright lights while Lord Poison faded until only outlines with bright lights inside remained as it was engulfed by a series of green rings. As this was happening, Aki started to chant.

"Chilling flames engulf the entire world. Pitch-dark flower, set into bloom! Synchro Summon! Appear now, Black Rose Dragon!"

Suddenly, an enormous pillar of bright purple light burst out behind the Black Rose Witch, signaling the arrival of her ace monster. When the light dissipated the black dragon with petal-like wings revealed itself before releasing a mighty roar as small black rose petals swirled around it.

 **Black Rose Dragon: (2400/1800)**

The wind kicked up forcing the two Signers spectators to brace themselves to avoid being blown away. Her opponent however stood his ground with a focused expression on his face without an ounce of fear. Good, it would only make it all the sweeter when she inevitably crushed him. Normally, Aki would wait a while before summoning her ace monster but unlike her other opponents, this one seemed dangerous and his abilities made him a possible threat. She also needed to assess how strong he was and seeing how he fared against her Black Rose was the perfect way to test him.

"I activate Black Rose Dragon's special effect. When I Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon, it can destroy all cards on the field! Black Rose Gale!"

Black Rose roared as a twister containing rose petals was summoned forth, surrounding the mighty dragon. But appeared her opponent had something up his sleeve.

* * *

Yuya smiled. It was a good try, if he hadn't been prepared for something like this he would've been in trouble. He had experienced a slight throb coming from his dragon mark during her dragon's summoning. However, it had ended as quickly as it started. Yuya waved his arm toward the field as his face-down revealed itself in the face of the winds produced by Black Rose's power.

"Trap Card Open! Performapal Sky Ring! If a card or effect is activated that would destroy a card or cards that I control while I control a Spellcaster-Type "Performapal" monster, I can then negate that effect."

The gale surrounding Black Rose Dragon faded away as it's power was stopped in it's tracks. The spectators who had taken cover to avoid the gale breathed a sigh of relief.

Yuya watched his opponent intently, wondering what she would come up with next.

* * *

Aki's eyes narrowed behind her mask. So he countered one of her dragon's abilities but that was fine, there was more than one way her dragon could deal with him. It would just take a little trickery on her part to get around that pesky spell card.

"You may have prevented my dragon from destroying my monsters but let's see how you handle what coming. I activate the spell card Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy Magician's Right Hand."

A new wind started whipping up as the card targeted her opponent's card and just as she predicted, it's effect activated automatically to stop her spell. Her opponent frowned since he knew that she knew this as he called out it's effect.

"Since you played a spell card, Magician's Right Hand effect activates. Which now negates and destroys Mystical Space Typhoon, to saving my spell card from destruction."

The winds abruptly stopped as Aki's card was negated before it was destroyed. Aki smiled behind her mask. Her plan was going perfectly.

"Now that your spell has used up it's effect this turn, I'm now free to use my other spells. I now activate the Equip Spell, Thorn of Malice! This card can only be equip to either Black Rose Dragon or a Plant-Type monster and the monster equip to it gains 600 attack points, making it stronger than your Sky Magician."

 **Black Rose Dragon: 3000/1800**

Aki then moved to the next step of her ruthless plan to defeat her opponent.

"Now I activate the Spell Card, Book of Moon! This card allows me to target face-up monster on the field and switch it to face-down defense position. I now choose your Performapal Sky Magician."

When the cards effect activated a beam struck Sky Magician forcing it to change modes. Aki smiled as her plan was going perfectly.

"Now I activate my Black Rose Dragon's secondary effect. By banishing 1 Plant-Type monster from my graveyard, I can target one monster on you control and force it into attack position. However, when it does it's attack points are reduced to zero until the end of the turn."

Aki's Duel Disk then ejected Lord Poison from her graveyard as Black Rose Dragon bit down on the spirit of the monster removed from the graveyard destroying it. Then the dragon's appendages glowed with violet light.

"Rose Restriction!"

The glowing appendages the snaked over to her opponent's side of the field, revealing Sky Magician once again as Black Rose Dragon's vines caught it in a strangle hold as it forced the wincing spellcaster into attack position and drained it's power to nothing.

 **Performapal Sky Magician: (0/2000)**

Aki smiled behind her mask as she saw her opponent frown at his monster's predicament. Now it was time to deal some pain! She pointed toward the trapped spellcaster as he called out her order.

"Battle! Black Rose Dragon attack his Performapal Sky Magician! Black Rose Flare!"

The Signer dragon roared before opened her maw as she blasted a purple flames surrounded black roses toward the helpless Sky Magician.

* * *

Yuya gritted his teeth as he was nearly thrown off his feet by Black Rose Dragon's attack on his Sky Magician. The young duelist's side of the field was engulfed purple flame that he swore he could feel the heat from. When the smoke cleared he was surprised to see that Sky Magician was still there, though looking like he had seen better days as his once pristine clothes were now covered in various burn marks. Yuya had fared a little better seeing as he wasn't the main target of the attack, feeling only slightly toasted from the heat brushing over his skin. His life points also took a big hit as they dropped by 3000.

 **Yuya: 1000**

 **Black Rose Witch: 4000**

His experiences had toughened him against such attacks, and it seemed his opponent was taken aback that he'd been able to resist the force of her monster's blast. He imagined that she didn't encounter someone like him often. Though she recovered from her shock quickly before providing an explanation for Sky Magician's survival.

"It seems you really do posses the same powers that I do. Fortunately for you, the effect of Thorn of Malice keeps your monster from being destroyed in battle while it's equip to my monster. Though your Sky Magician looks like he's seen better days."

Yuya smiled, while his life points had taken a huge blow, this duel was far from over. He had been confused for a moment when she mentioned him having the same powers as her, then he remembered Yuto and Kurosaki's ability to give their monsters the power to deal real damage without the aid of an Action Field. He wondered if he had somehow inherited this ability from Yuto during their brief time sharing the same body. He noted to look into it later but for now he had a duel to win. His opponent jerked slightly in surprise as Yuya revealed his second face-down card.

"Spell Card Open! Quick-Play Magic, Damage Draw! When I take 2000 or more in battle damage, I can draw 2 cards from my deck."

Yuya drew two cards from his deck as his opponent watched him silently, most likely thinking about her next move.

 **Yuya - 2**

 **Black Rose Witch - 2**

* * *

Aki frowned as she inspected her barely phased adversary. She had never encountered anyone strong enough to endure an attack augmented by her powers with barely any sign of pain or injury. Not even Divine could come out unscathed in their training duels with each other and he was a strong psychic himself. But this guy didn't seem to be effected by her attack at all.

It also irked her that foe didn't even seem rattled by the fact he was losing. That smile he wore on his face made it seem as though he was mocking her. And though this annoyed her, she supposed it didn't matter either way. His monster was still weaker than hers and even after it regained it strength next turn it would still be no match for her dragon. She looked down at her hand and saw nothing further she could use this turn. The Witch looked back toward her at her adversary who was watching her closely.

"Turn end."

Now she would see what his response would be. She was confident in her chances of victory, but she had a strange feeling as she looked back into her opponent's brilliant mismatched eyes. Those eyes spoke nothing but confidence that he could somehow turn this around, and something deep down told her that his confidence wasn't unfounded.

* * *

With his adversary's turn ended, Black Rose Dragon's vines relinquished their hold on Sky Magican as it's power was restored back to it's original values without it's previous power boost from it's effect.

 **Performapal Sky Magician: (2500/2000)**

Yuya seeing Sky Magician restored smiled as he began his move.

"My Turn, Draw!"

 **Yuya - 3**

 **Black Rose Witch - 2**

He looked at what he drew before smiling, it was time get some revenge for hurting Sky Magician.

"I'll begin by activating the spell card, Cup of Ace! This card allows me to flip coin and if it's head I get to 2 cards but if it's tails you two draw 2 cards instead."

A coin appeared on Yuya's side of the field before it started flipping. It hit the ground as it landed on heads. Yuya breathed an inner sigh of relief before giving his opponent a roguish grin.

"Since it landed on heads, I can now draw 2 cards from my deck."

 **Yuya - 4**

 **Black Rose Witch - 2**

Yuya looked down to inspect his new cards and his roguish grin grew slightly as he saw exactly what he needed to win end this duel. He looked back over to his opponent, who took a step back as his expression quickly became serious.

"It's seems I underestimated your ability my good lady. I guess it's time to stop playing around and really get serious. First, I activate the spell card, Performapal Bonds! This card allows me to special summon as many Perfomapal monsters from my graveyard as possible while I control at least 1 'Performapal' monster on my side of the field with their effects negated and they are destroyed during my End Phase."

The witch tilted her head a little in confusion but Yuya simply decided to let his moves speak for him.

"And now I special summon Performapal Helpprincess and Performapal Hip Hippo back to the field in attack mode. Return to the field, my faithful monsters!"

The graveyard spot on Yuya's Duel Disk ejected the card before he placed both cards back on his field. Helpprincess and Hip Hippo then reappeared on the field on either side to the battered Sky Magician.

 **Performapal Hip Hippo: (800/800)**

 **Performapal Helpprincess: (1200/1200)**

Yuya then executed to the next stage of his plan.

"Next I normal summon the tuner monster Tuning Magician in attack mode."

 **Tuning Magician: 0/0**

The small pink-haired spellcaster appeared next to Helpprincess with a determined look on her face as she looked over to see Black Rose Dragon. She then surprised Yuya slightly by giving him a subtle wink that his fellow Signer didn't seem to notice that made Yuya chuckle slightly inside.

"When Tuning Magician is normal or special summoned, my opponent gains 400 life points while I lose 400 points."

 **Yuya: 600**

 **Black Rose Witch: 4400**

When his opponent heard what kind of monster he was summoning, she seemed to instantly be on guard for what was coming next despite it's effect increasing her life points. Too bad he wasn't trying to going to use Tuning Magician for a Synchro Summon like she probably suspected.

For one, none of his monsters were the right level for him to be able to summon Clear Wing. The other reason was that Starve Venom had mentioned earlier, as they were running toward the explosion caused by the Black Rose Witch, that Clear Wing was still resting after expending a lot of her power to create new cards for Yuya to use in this era. The young duelist then spoke out just loud enough so that his adversary couldn't hear him.

"You ready?"

From within Yuya's mind, the Heavenly Dragon of Fusion let out a prideful roar before answering.

 _"Yes! Let's show this witch what true power looks like!"_

Yuya smirked at the dragon's desire for battle as he began his next move. What happened next wasn't something either his opponent or their spectators would expected.

"Now, I play the spell card, Polymerization! This card allows me to perform a fusion summon using monsters from your hand or field as fusion materials. And the monsters I choose to fuse are my dark attribute Performapal Helpprincess and my dark attribute Tuning Magician!

Tuning and Helpprincess looked at each other and nodded before jumping up into a swirling red and blue portal. Then Yuya started to chant much like how the witch had did earlier.

"Magician and Princess! Combine your powers and give life to the lasting predator born from the darkness."

Yuya clapped his hands together as the two monsters were pulled into the darkness of the portal.

"Fusion Summon! Come Forth! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon!"

From within the portal numerous lights began appearing, illuminating the dark silhouette of the monster to whom they belonged to as Starve Venom appeared in all his glory and roared out his arrival to the heavens before taking his place next to Yuya's Sky Magician.

 **Stave Venom Fusion Dragon: 2800/2000**

Yuya then noticed that both his mark and the Black Rose Witch's were glowing again. Then, both dragons roared out in challenge to each other as they faced-off. The wind howled and lightning rained down around the two Signers and their dragons as their audience watched in terrified awe at the power on display.

* * *

Aki's eyes widened behind her mask as she felt her birthmark and Black Rose respond to Starve Venom Fusion Dragon's summoning. The summoning method for her adversary's monster was somewhat of a surprise. When she had seen it when it saved the officer, she'd thought it was a synchro monster like her Black Rose Dragon but it appeared that wasn't the case.

It wasn't like it was unheard of for people to still use Fusion Monsters these days. However, ever since the introduction of Synchro Summoning, Fusion Monsters had fallen out of favor due to Synchro Summoning being easier and faster to perform. This would act as a reminder not to underestimate a summoning method just because it was slightly old fashioned. Now Aki wondered just what kind of powers this monster possessed if her opponent was willing to risk his limited amount of life points just to summon it and it looked like she was about to find out.

* * *

Officer Kaz and the two women, after Black Rose Dragon's attack on Sky Magician, had finally decided it wasn't safe to be out in the open due to the shockwaves and winds throwing around debris and opted to take refuge from the effects of the battle in a nearby warehouse. From there, they watched from one of the windows that faced the side where the two Signers where fighting.

All of them where surprised when the young man brought out a Fusion Monster rather than the relatively easier to summon Synchro Monster, despite having a tuner monster on his field. But none of them could deny the sheer power coming of the new dragon and wondered how it could help the man snatch victory from what looked like the jaws of defeat.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yeager and Inspector Hattori stood watching the duel from the relative safety of the top floor of a nearby apartment building. After the Signers made the first few moves, they had decided it would be best to move some place were they wouldn't be send flying by the winds and shockwaves coming from the two Singers battle while still being able to carefully observe what was happening to include in their reports to Director Goodwin.

Yeager pulled out his holopad and typed in the name of Yuya's monster to see what information he could find it's abilities. He frowned when his search didn't produce any results before returning his gaze back toward the Signer of the Dragon's Eye.

The young man was an enigma wrapped in a mystery and it puzzled him to no end. Where did he come from? Why was he here in Neo Domino City? And why was there no record of his existence anywhere? These were questions that had plagued him ever since he had met the young duelist only a few hours before. Now that he was a confirmed Signer, the need to find answers to these questions just became all the more important.

Inspector Junko Hattori monitored her boss out the corner of her eye while appearing to focus on the duel taking place below them. She had been suspicious about why the Head of the Special Investigations would send one of his own agents to track someone over a case possible trespassing. At first, she had figured that the boy could be a subject of interest who had information on some high-level case her boss was working on, so she accepted the assignment without complaint.

Now however, she knew that there was something bigger going on here. Something involving those glowing marks on Yuya Sakaki and Black Rose Witch's arms. The inspector narrowed her eyes as she focused on the young man's glowing mark.

She had heard rumors and whispers around Security Bureau Headquarters that the higher-ups were heavily involved with something regarding the upcoming Fortune Cup Tournament. The rumors spoke about how the Head of Special Investigations had been tasked by Director Goodwin to identify and locate certain key individuals. The operation and it's ultimate purpose was a complete mystery, even to those agents with high-level clearance such as herself. Now she was aware that the individuals her superiors were most likely looking for anyone bearing these marks, these Signers as her boss had put it. So what are Yeager and Goodwin up to? And why are they so interested in finding these Signers?

The Inspector frowned as she thought about the secrecy involved in the Director's operation. She had never liked Rex Goodwin from the moment she'd first met him after she'd been promoted to Inspector seven years ago. His policies regarding the complete segregation of residents of the Satellite and Neo Domino City, his enriching himself by using his position to curry favor with Neo Domino's elites, and his generally blatant corruption and abuse of power. In short, Rex Goodwin was the epitome of everything that had gone wrong Neo Domino over the last 17 years, ever since Zero Reverse.

Junko quickly buried the memory deep into the back of her mind, forcing herself focus on the events taking place before her rather than remember the tragedy that had taken everything she held dear. For now though, she needed to concentrate on the present, as it looked like something was happening with the Sakaki boy.

* * *

Yuya smiled toward his opponent as made his next move. He could feel the power of the Crimson Dragon flow through him through the mark it had bestowed upon him, which unbeknownst to him, was combining with and augmenting something deep within his spirit.

The wind kicked up and patches of ground started to crack around him due to a strong pressure filling the air as Yuya's eyes began to glowing in the darkness. Then his hair stood slightly on end, giving him a more wild and commanding appearance before he was surrounded by a crimson aura of power.

When he spoke his voice remained largely the same though it carried with it a slight undertone that spoke of incredible power. The Black Rose Witch tensed at the sudden unexpected display of power. The psychic duelist now watched had absolute certainly that her opponent possessed some sort of power. Unfortunately, it seemed that power was being used against her.

"Now it's time to begin the final act of tonight performance. I activate Starve Venom Fusion Dragon's effect! If this monster was Fusion Summoned, I can target one special summoned monster my opponent controls, then Stave Venom gains ATK equal to the targeted monster's until the End Phase. And since your Black Rose Dragon is the only special summoned monster you control, Starve Venom's attack points now increase by 3000!"

The Witch seemed to jerk backwards slightly in shock at Yuya's explanation of Starve Venom's power. The fearsome dragon roared, unleashing a powerful shockwave that caused the windows of all the nearby buildings to shatter and the bulbs of the nearby streetlights shatter raining glass down to the street below. The two mouth-like protrusions on the Fusion Dragon's opened, releasing a magenta-colored energy surrounding various spheres of blue light shaped like a massive pair of wings as it powered-up. The display looked breathtakingly beautiful as it did deadly.

 **Stave Venom Fusion Dragon: (5800/2000)**

* * *

Aki couldn't believe what she was seeing. The power that her opponent was displaying was far beyond anything she had expected from him, even with the knowledge that he possessed powers similar to her own. Fear began to take root in her mind as she looked upon her opponent and his dragon whose strength greatly surpassed her Black Rose Dragon's.

Then Aki realized with growing horror that she was about to lose. Nothing in her hand could help her prevent Starve Venom from destroying Black Rose, and when that happened she would be wide open for his Sky Magician to attack and wipe out the rest of her life points!

The Black Rose Witch could do nothing but watch as her foe moved to seal her fate.

* * *

Yuya narrowed his glowing heterochromatic eyes before calling out his attack.

"Battle! Starve Venom Fusion Dragon attack-!"

His order was abruptly cut short as he clutched his right arm that had suddenly erupted with pain originating from his new birthmark. Across from him the Black Rose Witch cried out as her mark reacted as well. When he opened his eyes after closing them briefly from the pain he noticed something. There drifting among the clouds above the city was the massive form of...

"The Crimson Dragon!? What's it doing here?"

Yuya then noticed that it had appeared above a stadium some distance away before quickly making its way toward himself and the Witch, who had also noticed the arrival of the dragon god who had chosen her to bear its mark. The city was then plunged into darkness.

* * *

Back at the Tops Residence, Leo and Luna suddenly jerked awake as their right forearms flashed with pain. When they looked down to see what was wrong, the twins were surprised to find a glowing crimson birthmark. Leo's mark was vaguely shaped like a heart while his sisters resembled a clawed hand.

They siblings looked toward each other before hearing a loud sound coming from outside. They quickly jump out of their beds and rushed toward toward the rooftop terrace. When they finally got there they saw a massive dragon hovering nearby above the Daimon Area. Luna's eyes widened as she realized it was the same being she had seen in her dreams. She turned toward her brother who also noticed the deity matched the description of the Dragon God that Luna had told him about.

"Luna, is that what I think it is? How is this possible?!"

Luna nodded before bring her arm up to eye level. Leo then looked down at his own mark as his sister replied.

"I don't know Leo. Though, I somehow know it has something to do with these birthmarks."

She turned back to look at the entity that had stared frequently in her nightmares.

"Just what is going on here?"

* * *

Kaz and the girls looked on in slight fear and awe as they were graced by the presence of the Crimson Dragon, who had finally arrived as it floated above the two Signers as let loose a beautiful echoing cry that reverberated down to their very souls. One of the girls, turned to Kaz hoping he would know what was happening.

"Officer Kazuma, what is that thing?"

Kaz shook his head as he continued to gaze upon the majesty of the primordial deity hovering above the two combatants.

"I don't know."

* * *

Yeager frantically opened a channel to Goodwin using his holopad while Junko openly gawked at the sight of the almighty dragon god hovering above them. When the line finally opened, Goodwin immediately barked out a command to his subordinate.

"Report! What's going on?!"

Yeager immediately regained his wits as he quickly informed his boss on the situation.

"S-sir the Crimson Dragon, it's here and it's currently hovering above the two Signers."

* * *

Rex nodded when he heard this as he'd watched the deity appear above the duel between Yusei and Jack at the Memorial Circuit Stadium using the Security Bureau's extensive surveillance network. He'd sent over a squad of officers to take Yusei into custody after the giving the good professor the order to shut down the Ener-D Reactor to prevent it from exploding from the massive surge of energy caused by the Crimson Dragon's arrival.

It appeared that the dragon god was revealing itself before the ones to whom it had gifted it's divine might. He broke from his musings to give Yeager his marching orders.

"Yeager, continue monitoring the situation on your end, I've already sent a team to take custody of the Signer who was dueling with Jack at Memorial Circuit. We had to shut down the reactor to prevent another event like Zero Reverse. We're running on backup power at the moment while we wait to bring Momentum back online. When you determine it's safe, I want you to extend invitations to both of them to participate in the Fortune Cup. Then report back to me with your observations."

Yeager nodded from the other end of the line, though he appeared quite shaken by the presence of the primordial deity. Goodwin couldn't blame him really, the man didn't have the same experience Goodwin had when it came to the more supernatural forces of there world. It was one thing to read and hear about the legends, it was another to have their existence so forcefully confirmed personally.

"Orders confirmed Director, continuing mission. Yeager out."

Goodwin pressed a command key, cutting off the communicator. He then then turned his chair around before getting up and heading over to a nearby window where he could see the Crimson Dragon hovering above a section of the city in the distance. The sudden appearance of this unknown Signer troubling as there was no record of anyone bearing a mark representing the Dragon's Eye. There was some vague mentions of a sixth signer bearing a birthmark representing the Heart of the Crimson Dragon but never the Dragon's Eye.

However, Rex was certain his plans were still intact. They just needed a bit of adjusting to accommodate this new anomaly and the Fortune Cup was the perfect opportunity to study the young man and his abilities. Then he could determine what role he would play within Rex's scheme. For now he would just have to be patient and see where things would lead. After all, how did the old saying go? No plan survives contact with the enemy.

The Director smirked as he gazed at the sight of the Crimson Dragon. Soon, it would all fall into place and his ascension to godhood would be assured.

* * *

Aki looked upon the magnificence of Crimson Dragon and was captivated by it, though the pain quickly reminded her of that this being was somehow connected to this birthmark of hers. The very thing that had cursed her to a life of solitude and loneliness because of the power it bestowed upon her. Suddenly, a stray piece of debris left over from her rampage flew into her face due to the gale caused by the dragon god's arrival, shattering her mask though thankfully leaving her face untouched. The deity then released a mighty roar before quickly fading away, and with it's departure the pain from her mark slowly faded as well.

Startled by her unexpected unmasking, she looked down to see her mask lying down on the ground in pieces. She then noticed her opponent was looking right at her, seeing her face for the first time. She quickly decided to leave before anyone else identified her.

"You might have won today, but know that the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky."

Black Rose Dragon, sensing Aki's desire to flee swiftly unleashed a cover of flame and flower petals to cover her Signer's escape. Then, while everyone was distracted and blinded, Aki ran toward a nearby series of alleyways. After a few minutes, once she felt she was far enough away, Aki collapsed against one of the alley's walls. She sighed as she slid down the wall before coming to rest on the ground cradling her right arm as the glow from her birthmark quickly faded away.

* * *

At the apartment building, Yeager grinned as he looked down at his holopad. He had been fortunate he had been able to use the device to capture a photo of the Witch's face. Which he then used in conjunction with the Security Bureau's facial recognition software to finally put a name to the face of the elusive Black Rose.

Izayoi Aki, 16 years old, daughter of prominent independent congressman Hideo Izayoi, who represented Neo Domino City in Japan's House of Representatives and his wife, Setsuko Izayoi. Attended Neo Domino City Duel Academy where she received high marks in all areas of study before disappearing after a series of incidents where her opponent's ended up hospitalized after dueling her forced her to return home. Currently suspected to be a prominent member of the Arcadia Movement.

It would a slightly delicate situation, considering the Goodwin's mysterious arrangement with Sayer, the leader of the Arcadia Movement. Though he figured he'd be able to get the young woman's invitation to her, as Sayer most likely would wish to showcase the power of the Arcadia Movement by using the girl's formidable powers. Now he just had to approach Sakaki Yuya and convince him to participate in the upcoming event.

Junko surveyed her boss out the corner of her eye while appearing to still be focused on what was going on below them. When she'd heard the words 'Zero Reverse' her investigative instincts instantly snapped into overdrive. What was Goodwin talking about? Wasn't Zero Reverse supposed to be a natural disaster caused by massive tectonic shift? The way the director had spoken about the event made it seem as though it was caused by something unnatural, something man made.

The Inspector clenched her teeth as her blood boiled at the thought. If what she suspected was correct, then that meant the story the public had been told about the tragedy 17 years ago was all one big cover up. Though what cover up was meant to hide was the question and it seemed the Director was somehow involved. Junko's eyes flashed with absolute fury at the thought that someone was responsible for all the pain and suffering that she and everyone else had endured because of that one event.

She brought her hand up to clench around a small locket hanging on her neck, where she kept the pictures of her late husband and child who she'd lost that day. The agent quickly schooled her features so that her superior didn't see the effect that the Director's words had on her. As she turned her gaze back toward the young man she'd been ordered to watch, she focused on his right arm as the glowing mark began to fade away. Junko vowed to herself here and now that she would find the truth about what happened that day, and when she did, she would bring whoever was responsible to justice. And she would start by finding out just what Goodwin wanted with this boy and those like him.

* * *

Yuya blinked as his vision cleared showing that his opponent had fled, his dragon mark had faded, and the power he had felt during the duel had faded with it. Unknowingly returning his features to normal. Starve Venom, seeing that their foe had escaped roared with rage at being denied his chance to do battle with Black Rose Dragon.

 _"Cowards! You never be able to hide from my wrath! Come back and fight me!"_

As the Starve Venom began to fade from the physical plane, the fearsome turned toward his new partner.

 _"Yuya, when we find them, make them regret their foolish actions here today. No one runs in the middle of a battle_ _with me and gets away with it!_

With his piece said, Starve Venom faded completely back into the spirit realm. As he turned to leave, he saw none other than Yeager standing before him with an amused grin on his face. Yuya sighed. Great, this just what he needed. He noticed that the wounded officer and the girls were headed in their direction followed by a woman he didn't recognize. Yeager polite coughed bring Yuya's attention back to high-ranking security official.

"I admit Yuya-san, I hadn't quite expected to meet you again so soon. Though I must admit that was I was quite impressed by that display you gave us. I never suspected you capable of such things"

Yuya frowned, this didn't sound good.

"Am I in trouble Yeager-san?"

The official blinked a little before he shook his head.

"Relax Yuya-san, your not in any trouble. I daresay it's actually quite the opposite. The man you saved earlier was one of our undercover officers who was investigating the recent attacks in the area by the Black Rose Witch, and for that I thank you."

Yeager-san surprised the young duelist by giving him a deep bow, a sign of respect. He then rose before reaching into his coat and producing an envelope identical to the one he had given to the twins earlier that day. Yuya's eyes widened slightly at the gesture. Yeager seeing this quickly moved to explain.

"I've spoke to my superiors, and they agreed based on my report that we should invite you to participate in the Fortune Cup in thanks for protecting one of our finest officers."

Yuya's eyes narrowed. He wasn't quite sure he believed the reason for Yeager extending the offer from his superiors. While he respected the fact that Yeager did seem to genuinely care about what happens to his subordinates, Yuya also figured he had been watching and probably had seen the Crimson Dragon as well. However, if declined the invitation, Yuya had a feeling that the officials superiors would attempt something to force him to accept their offer, like throwing him in the Facility for trespassing until he agreed to their wishes.

After a moments hesitation, Yuya reached out and accepted the invitation.

"I thank you and your superiors for the offer. I'll sure you'll not be disappointed."

Yeager nodded before turning around and addressing the unknown woman and the officer Yuya had saved as the group finally reach them.

"Inspector Hattori, our business here is concluded. Officer Kazuma, return to headquarters and have the medical staff take a look at your injuries. Also, as of this moment I'm taking over the Black Rose investigation. When your finished at medical, report to your captain to receive your new assignment. dismissed."

Both his subordinates nodded while the other Yuya and the girls looked on. Yeager and the now identified Inspector Hattori then headed off toward the street as a limousine pulled up. The driver exited the vehicle and opened the door for his boss to get in. Once his employer and his associate was inside, the driver quickly reentered the vehicle before driving off. Leaving the undercover officer with Yuya and the girls.

The man turned and offered Yuya his hand.

"Thanks for the save back there, I thought I was a goner for a moment there. Kazama Soichi's the name, though everyone just calls me Kaz for short."

Yuya smiled as he shook the man's hand. This guy seemed like a good person in Yuya's book, especially considering how he had apparently been dueling to try and protect the girls from the Black Rose Witch.

"Sakaki Yuya. You should probably go get those injuries looked at before you keel over. Do you need help getting there?"

The Duel Chaser shook his head at the question.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just use the radio on my duel runner to have one of my colleagues to come pick me up. I'll be watching for you at the Fortune Cup. I'd wish you luck, but I don't think you'll need it after what I just saw."

Kaz chuckled before turning around and walking away to where he had stashed his hidden duel runner.

"See you around kid."

Yuya watched as the man disappeared into the darkness of a nearby alleyway. A few minutes later the three teens would hear the thundering roar as Kaz started up his Duel Runner's engine. Meanwhile, Yuya turned over to the girls who were observing him with curiosity.

"You two ok?"

The two blinked before realizing they were staring as the one with strawberry-blonde hair quickly introduced herself.

"Yeah, were fine thanks to you. My name is Mika Rhodes."

The wild raven haired girl grinned as so looked a Yuya up and down, obviously like what she saw there.

"And my name's Kenzan Tera, though you can call me Tera, Yuya-kun."

Yuya smiled at the friendly greeting though was a little unnerved by Tera's wandering eyes and it seemed she wasn't the only one, as Mika slight tint to her cheeks.

In the back of his mind, he could've sworn he heard the Four Heavenly Dragon's laughing about their partner being checked out like a stallion would be by a couple of mares.

"Pleased to meet you, though I should probably go. It's getting late and I have to find someplace to crash for the night."

He was about leave when he felt a hand his shoulder. He turned around to see Tera standing there.

"Wait a minute Yuya, if you need a place to stay you can stay with us for the night. It's least we can do after you helped save our skins back there."

Tera turned to her friend who hesitated for a moment before nodding. The raven haired girl grinned as she swiftly latched onto Yuya right arm.

"So how about it Yuya, wanna come over to our place for the night?"

Yuya blushed at the girl's forwardness as he tried hard not to think about wear his arm was located before looking back toward Mika.

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother..."

Mika smiled at Yuya's question before turning her eyes toward her best friend and giving her a sly grin as an positively devious thought passed through her head. She walked over toward them before taking Yuya's other arm, Tera smirked as her friend friends teasing of the guy between them. Yuya's face was flushed as he tried hard not to think about were his arms where.

Both girls saw this and thought his attempt at chivalry was rather cute. Most boys their age would've tried to take advantage of the situation, though it appeared that he was made of stronger stuff than the majority of the guys they knew from school. A big plus in their books. Mika smiled as she looked into the young man's brilliant mismatched eyes.

"Of course, now let's get out of here shall we? It's getting rather late and I don't know about you two but I'm beat."

Yuya didn't quite know how he'd gotten himself into his current situation, as he was promptly lead back toward the Mika's car with both girls hanging on each arm. And he wasn't certain how much more this teasing he could take. He was slightly relieved when they'd let go once the trio had finally reached the car only for his relief to vanish as Mika's car turned out to only be a two-seat convertible. Which meant that...

"Oh would you look at that, looks like well have to share a seat Yuya!"

He looked over an saw Tera give him smile that positively angelic, though Yuya realized it really wasn't.

The whole ride over to the girls place, Yuya forced himself to think about anything other than the beautifully girl sitting on his lap. Which was hard considering how she was leaning back on him so close he could smell her perfume. The entire time he heard the laughter Four Heavenly Dragon's echoing in his head.

* * *

 **Performapal Bonds**

 **Card Type: Spell Card**

 **Property: Quick-Play**

 **Effect: When you control at least 1 "Performapal" monster. Special Summon as many "Performapal" monsters from your graveyard. 'Performapal' Monsters summoned by this card's effect are negated. Destroy them during the End Phase.**


	8. A new world, a new way

A pair of tired heterochromatic eyes, belonging to a tomato haired teenager opened in middle of a black void, those same eyes widened after looking at his surroundings, Yuya was shocked at first but then calmed down, thinking that it was the Crimson Dragon again, however, as soon as he calmed down he felt a sudden yet familiar heat coming behind him, turning around he could see a giant shadow cloaked under a crimson fire that was enveloping him, shock took over Yuya as he knew what, or rather who was behind the fire, as soon as he completely turned around the flames died showing the image of a crimson dragon with green and red eyes looking at him, Yuya manage to stood his ground, but he couldn't manage to spoke a single word, Raging Dragon however just stood looking at him, he flew near Yuya until they were at close range, and extending his arm he took his index claw to touch Yuya's chest, and when his claw touched Yuya's chest a bright flash filled the area, he had to cover his eyes from the bright flash, but when he could see again the first thing he saw was… a white roof above him, looking around he could see a well decorated main room, closing his eyes with a sigh he took a sitting position from the couch he was sleeping just a moment ago.

"Just a dream".

Yuya rose from the futon couch he was currently sitting on and went to the bathroom to wash his face and get ready for the day, while he was washing his face he stared at his image in the bathroom's mirror, thinking of everything that has happened.

"I can't believe it has been one week already"

Truth to his word, a week has happened since Yuya met Mika and Tera, and, as a reward for saving the life of both of them, they decided to let him stay in their house, he tried to shrug it off but they wouldn't accept a no for answer, so, in the end, he has been sleeping in their couch as of now, he didn't really mind because now he had a place to stay without having to trouble the twins, speaking of them, he should visit them by now, he has been trying to visit them more often since his duel against the Black Rose Witch, the same one that Starve has been searching since their duel in the Daimon Area, the same one that he tried to investigate about, but so far he has only found a lack of information about it, other more that wherever she appeared destruction was sure to happen and his monster ace he found nothing, something that motivated Starve Venom in founding her.

Using his time alone he searched about Yeager too, for some reason he looked familiar to him but he didn't know from where, when he was in the Synchro dimension he never saw a person similar to him, neither in person or in some sort of propaganda, so far he knew that he was the vice-director of this timeline's security, he does care about his subordinates but don't show's it up and that his superior is the Director of Security Rex Goodwin, he hasn't found a lot about Goodwin but he didn't put a lot of thought to it, should his path cross with Goodwin then he would be ready.

Walking to the kitchen Yuya found a small lunch box with some cold food inside, on his side there was a small note to the left of it, grabbing it Yuya could see that it was written with Mika's handwriting.

" _Morning sleepyhead, some leftovers from today's breakfast so you don't starve, oh, by the way, don't steal our underwear. -Mika"_

Yuya chuckled a bit at the note, those girls sure have made his stay more interesting, especially since the first day with them, their constant flirting with him didn't bothered him, it did flattered him and, in some way he liked it.

Taking the lunch box and setting it on the dining table Yuya walked to his deck, taking out four cards that were face down just moments ago, now placing them face up Yuya could hear the voice of four beings.

" _About time you woke up"_

The first one to talk was Clear Wing, annoyed at Yuya's heavy sleep.

" _Seriously, you shouldn't go to sleep at 1 am in the night."_

The second one was Dark Rebellion, who was lecturing Yuya abouthis sleeping habits.

"Well I could've slept earlier if it wasn't for Venom and his false warning"

At this the third dragon, Starve Venom responded faster than he would admit.

" _I felt that same energy from that night I know it was the Black Rose"_

And last but not less important his most trusted companion Odd-Eyes.

" _Give him a break, he's getting used to all this situation by himself, pretty tiring if I must say"_

Yuya smiled at his most trusted monster words, truth to his words he was actually starting to get used to Neo Domino, instead of thinking of it as a new world he saw it as a new opportunity, besides, the "search" for the Black Rose was a nice excuse to go and explore the city, the same one that he was starting to know better by each day, the same one he was going to live from now on, he was not concerned about this anymore, after all, no one likes a gloomy performer.

" _So what are we doing today? We could go to search for the Black Rose again, I have a few ideas of where she can appear next"_ Starve started rambling about the Black Rose again, seems like he really hated that she escaped before ending the duel.

"Well, I was actually planning on visiting the twins, but if you really want to chase after her then we could go to the Daimon Area again, in case there is no one then we can have some duels, just like yesterday"

Starve chuckled at Yuya's words, he may think that it was a foolish task to do the same again, but Starve was actually starting to track the power that they left, the same one that she and that dragon left when they escaped, starting from the Daimon Area always shorted the way, the same one that was starting to get closer.

" _You'll see, just wait till we have our rematch"_

Clear Wing looked at the strange expression that his brother was doing, but paid no attention to it, instead she prepared to leave, Yuya did really know how to eat fast, not as fast as Yugo but enough to finish in less than 10 minutes.

"We'll be going with Leo and Luna first though".

With this statement Yuya rose up from the table, placed the lunch box in the sink and prepared to go with them.

* * *

Right now at Leo and Luna's apartment, they both were having a friendly duel with their duel disk, both of them using the same technique Yuya used to maintain them in their place, as of now Leo was starting to have a comeback against Luna.

"And now, Power Tool Dragon attack Luna directly! Crafty Break!

Luna placed his arms in front of her to protect herself against the oncoming attack as her life points dropped to 0.

 **Leo: 900**

 **Luna: 0**

Power Tool Dragon, knowing of Luna's weaker body restrained the strength in his attack so it didn't take a toll on her body, while Leo was mouth agape, after his third duel with Luna since their tag duel he had finally defeated her fair and square.

"I did it… I finally DID IT!"

Leo was jumping from the emotion of finally beating Luna since she was the one who always manage to turn the tables at the last turn, while Luna was giggling from the other side of the pool where they were having their duel, it was a long time since she saw Leo so happy.

"Congratulations Leo, you finally beat me, after three duels"

"Well you know, after obtaining this mark my dueling abilities have increased"

Leo said while rising the right sleeve of his long shirt, after the night he got his mark Luna insisted that Leo started using a long sleeved version of his undershirt in order to hide the mark, she didn't know why until now Leo had a similar mark like hers, but she felt that it was very important that no one besides them knew about the marks, she was still worried about his hearth shaped mark but as days passed she didn't notice a single change in Leo.

"Are you alright Luna?"

"Yeah, just a little tired but overall I am right"

"Great, for a moment I thought that I overpowered my attack"

Leo said rubbing the back of his head, with the recent improvement in Luna's health and the arrival of Yuya, Leo and Luna's life has become more interesting lately, since the mark appeared on Leo's right arm he had since tried to communicate with monster cards, he had tried to do it with Power Tool Dragon first since it was his most trusted card, but so far he hadn't showed any sign of communication with them, it appears that the mark didn't gave the same powers Luna had, however he was still excited by this as he said that it would help him with duels, she giggled at the thought of Leo in the KC stadium with the prize in his hands, when she looked at Leo she could see that he was checking the hour.

"11:30 A:M, Yuya should be coming soon, let's go Luna"

* * *

Sector Security, the organization designed to protect Neo Domino City and maintaining Satellite in check, was always occupied with the recent crime rate that was developing in Neo Domino, however, the real reason of why Sector Security existed was hidden from all of the higher operatives, and it was to prevent the rise of the Dark Signers whom once plagued the world menacing to destroy it, however they were stopped by the Crimson Dragon and his children, they managed to seal the Dark Signers so they would never come back to the surface, however, the menace of the Dark Signers was known by none other than the Director of Sector Security Rex Goodwin himself, not because he wanted to avoid or destroy them once and for all, but because he wanted them to surface for one sole purpose, ascend to godhood through their powers, so far the plan Goodwin had settled was going perfectly… until Sakaki Yuya showed up, until know he had the knowledge that 6 signers were chosen by the Crimson Dragon to destroy the Dark Signers, but this mysterious duelist that challenged the possessor of the Black Rose Dragon not only manage to defeat her, but also showed up with a mark of his own, not only that but the dragon he used was not one of the cards that Dr. Fudo held the day the Ener-D incident happened, the day he lost his brother Roman, the dragon itself also differed with the summoning method the other dragons were used to, Fusion instead of Synchro, and his power was more than enough to break through the windows of the apartments near him, should he hadn't ordered the power shutdown of the Ener-D reactor…

The thoughts of Goodwin about this new…signer were interrupted by the knocks on his doors.

"Come in"

The door to Goodwin's office opened to reveal a quite short man with lipstick, none other than Yeager himself.

"Good morning director Goodwin"

"Yeager, to what do I owe your visit?"

"Director Goodwin, w-we got information about Sasaki Yuya"

Goodwin smiled when he heard the words of his Vice-director, ever since this new signer appeared he has been troubled by the fact that all of the information they had about him was his name, his date of appearance and that he is a signer, other than that was completely unknown, almost as if he just appeared out of nowhere, however he started to frown upon seeing the shaking arms of Yeager.

"Is something the matter, Yeager"

"W-well Director Goodwin, the information we have got is scarce, aside from his age and Signer monster, one of our inspectors has found that he is, most possibly, from Miami city"

The eyes of Goodwing opened a bit at this, of all the footage that has been send to him about him one could see that he was completely Japanese, why would he travel from Miami to Japan.

"Any other thing to report?"

"Nothing more sir"

Goodwin placed his hands under his chin and closed his eyes, Sakaki Yuya was definitely a problem that he didn't expected, while the reports of the street duels that he has been involved with has showed that, whenever he dueled he placed on a "show" with his monsters, almost as if he was able to touch them, or talk to them, but so far he hasn't used the Fusion monster that he used against Izayoi Aki, rather using his own array of Advanced, Fusion and Synchro monsters, how was a person like this involved with the Crimson Dragon, and how did he manage to overload the Ener-D reactor with just his monster? That night the report of the sudden spike in energy reflected that it was cause of the dragons, but the one that had a stronger impact on the reactor was Starve Venom, almost surpassing the limit him alone, just who was this guy?

* * *

"See you tomorrow Leo, Luna"

Yuya said before he got out of the twins apartment, Leo and Luna responded with a "bye" of their own while they saw the door closing, both ofthem with a smile on their faces, in so little time Yuya has manage to get on their good side, becoming friends very quickly, Luna was at first shy around him but now she talked to him as if she known him since she was born, while Leo always got excited when he come because he had already made him his "Duel Sensei", Yuya just laughed at this saying that Leo's attitude reminded him of a friend of his.

"I can't wait until tomorrow to get another duel, Yuya sure is an incredible duelist"

"Yeah, but you actually managed to get his life points under 3000 this time"

Even with Luna's comment Leo still had a big smile on his face, he tried to duel Yuya yet again, but lose again after he manage to surpass his Morphtronic Magnen lock, but he managed to inflict more damage than the last time, now that she thought about it, ever since Yuya came Leo got a little stronger, she had tried to duel him again but without Ancient Fairy Dragon she felt that she had no opportunity against him, Kuribon felt her emotions and started to cheer her up, she started to feel better and was about to go to sleep, since it was very late already, time sure fly when you are with a new friend, however she stopped when she heard knocks on her door, both twins went to the door and hearing from the other side they could hear that it was their friend Tenpei, opening the door they could see their friend gasping, as if he ran from his apartment to theirs.

"Leo… Luna… so good… to see you"

Leo and Luna waited until Tenpei recovered his breathing from the (rather short) run that he made

"Tenpei, what a surprise, what are you doing here? I thought that you were investigating on the Black Rose Witch"

Tenpei remembered why he ran to their apartment and started to say with emotion something that surprised the both of them.

"I got evidence, the Black Rose Witch is real"

Leo and Luna got a surprised look on their faces, but remained on their places, they thought that it was just an urban legend that was invented to scare little children, but here was their school friend saying that it was real.

"You must think that I'm lying, but I have proof that she is real, come with me"

Both Leo and Luna were still sceptic about this but followed him none the less, it has been a long time since they had talked with him. Following Tenpei to his room he started his computer, at first they just saw a Red Demon's wallpaper but then he opened a window that showed a video of poor quality in it, they had to get closer to see better but then they saw it, a woman in a red outfit summoned a dragon that resembled a giant rose, destroying everything around her, then the video was cut to show the same dragon mercilessly attacking an adult man and two girls that had her school uniform, Luna covered her eyes when she thought that they would be murdered, however she opened them again after she heard a familiar distorted voice on the video and shock covered her face, it was Yuya! And he had a giant purple dragon that resembled a plant beside him, she could barely see but it appeared that he was trying to protect the three persons in the video, however the video was cut after a pebble destroyed the camera.

"No way, was that Yu-"

"Just look at the time Tenpei, we have to go bye!"

Luna said dragging Leo with him, not even giving him a moment to talk, when they were back at their apartmen Leo was the first to speak.

"Luna, was the one in the video Yuya?"

"I… don't know, but he looked similar to him, and the voice was like his"

Both twins sat on their couch, thinking of what could that have been, it was no doubt that it was Yuya but, even if they were on duel, the Black Rose Witch, from what they have heard, could inflict real damage, but Yuya's dragon deflected the attack as if it was nothing, besides, he had never used a monster like that when he dueled with them, was that really Yuya?

* * *

It was the morning of a Saturday and things have been going pretty much the same for Yuya, with a change that Yuya didn't expected, today Tera and Mika were not going to school, and, feeling curious where his Savior went whenever they were at school, they decided to follow him, he didn't opposed to the idea but he started to feel regret after the teasing the both of them were doing to him, sure he didn't mind when they did it at home but Yuya was starting to get the jealous sight of other men of his age that were passing, however their teasing stopped when they saw the place they were into.

"Yuya, mind explaining what are we doing here?"

Mika said with uncertain while she had a look at her surroundings, it still seemed destroyed though a little progress was made to repair the Daimon Area, but what she focused her gaze on was that some tugs were eyeing them, she unintentionally clung herself on Yuya's arm, placing his arm in middle of her chest, Yuya did blushed a bit but then saw that a lot of persons were seeing the three of them, Tera asked Yuya

"Uhm, why are they seeing us as if we were an oasis in the desert?"

Soon Tera's question was answered when most persons started to scream Yuya's name while other persons smiled at him, most of them having a criminal mark on their faces, Tera was startled at this but Yuya just laughed as if it was normal.

"You don't have to worry, the people here might have criminal marks, but they are friendly, they won't do nothing on you"

Truth to his words all of them were acting friendly to the two companions of Yuya, the two were shocked because last time they passed through here it just appeared to be a sad place filled with criminals who were hitting on them because of their bodies, and Tera even heard some of them apologizing, she started to giggle thinking that it may be because of Yuya's intromission.

Walking outside of the Daimon Area the three stopped to rest on the nearby park. The three of them sat on a nearby seat, with Yuya in middle of the two. Tera starting the conversation to break the ice.

"So, Yuya, did you had something to do with the sudden change in the Daimon Area?"

Yuya was a little confused at this but then smiled at her.

"Well I wouldn't say that I had a big impact, I just showed them my entertainment duel"

"Entertainment duel?"

"Yeah, it's just a normal duel, but instead of focusing on just defeating your opponent it is made to entertain the people watching it AND your opponent, this way both duelist share the same feelings at the end of the duel, even if one lost."

Tera and Mika looked at him with full open eyes, they really didn't believe that those thugs and criminal marked men were changed by just a duel, it sounded so… easy to be real, sure they tough that he was a strong duelist, one of the strongest to go toe to toe with Aki, but change a criminal mind with just a duel?

"To be honest it sounds hard to believe that they could change in just one duel"

Tera started to question his words, however a grin was placed in her lips.

"But I would love to see this 'Entertainment duel' Yuya, mind if we have a duel now?"

Tera got up on her feet after hearin Yuya's words, she was still doubtful about the change of mind with just one duel, but if he really changed their minds with one duel then she wanted to know how strong was Yuya with this 'Entertainment Duel'

"I would love to… but I still need to go to the Tops Area"

Now they were shocked, Yuya in the Tops! What was he going to do over there, security wouldn't even let a normal person to see without wanting an identification, Mika wanting to know more asked Yuya.

"Excuse me but, what are you going to do exactly in the Top Area?"

"Oh, I'm just going to visit two kids, like I do most days"

"Two kids?" Mika was wondering, two kids from the Tops Area, sure there are kids over there but most of the people in Tops were adults, her thoughts were interrumped after she heard the shout of two kids in the distance, she turned to where she heard the shout and was amazed by who was running to her direction, it was none other than the duel genius Luna, she was known for being one of the youngest duelist to beat top duelist alone, accompanied on her side was his brother, she has heard of Luna being the strongest of their class but never seen them in person, but if she heard right they shouted Yuya's name… it can't be!

"Leo? Luna! What are you doing here? I was just coming to your apartment"

"Now Mika and Tera were completely awestruck, how on Earth did Yuya manage to knew two of the most known Tops on the city, and seeing as they just greet him they were friends too.

"Yuya, it's great to see you here, we were just getting some fresh air, besides, Luna wanted to come to the park since she got better"

Leo was partially saying the truth, they both wanted to get out of the house, but in reality they planned to intercept Yuya in the park, they would have just waited in their apartment to ask about the video they saw yesterday but, given the number of security guards and the fact that the video looked like it was taken from a security camera they thought that Yuya could be wanted by Security, maybe it was by that reason that he couldn't come so frequently.

"Oh, that's great but you should've waited until I arrived, it's not safe for two kids to be alone in the park you know?"

Yuya said sternly to Leo, who placed a worried face until Yuya kneeled down and put on a bright smile.

"But now that we are here, what do you say we enjoy the day?"

Leo's worried face turned into a bright smile, for a moment he thought that he was angry at him, but he was just concerned, Luna had a warm smile after seeing Leo got attached to Yuya, she had grown attached to him too in just a week that it was hard to believe that he was laying on the ground on some bunch of card boxes some days ago, she walked toward them but froze when she saw a brown skinned brunette and a strawberry-blonde girl, the blonde girl was shocked while the brunette was smiling at the scene in front of her, Yuya looked at her and then at her back, having forgotten about Tera and Mika, Yuya moved closer to Luna while Leo was walking behind him, he placed his hands on Luna's shoulder, making her react.

"Don't be afraid Luna, we are here."

Yuya said ponting at himself and Leo, making Luna relax her shoulders and place herself between him and Leo.

"Leo, Luna, I'd like to introduce you to my friends, Tera and Mika"

Yuya said signaling Tera, who waved at them with a smile on her face, while Mika finally got out of her shock and finally waved, albeit slowly, Leo waved back with energy while Luna was on his side, looking at them silently. The girls approached to the twins, while Luna was still shy and wasn't talking she didn't hide behind her brother, while he was talking with Tera already.

"So, now that we are here, what do you say we grab some ice cream?"

* * *

"… _you are dismissed"_

A beep was heard from a cellphone belonging to inspector Hattori, or simply known as Junko, she sighed once the call was over, having stayed all night investigating on the recent events that she witnessed one week ago, ever since she witnessed a crimson being coming from the sky, she has dedicated most of her time searching for whatever information she could find, so far her investigation has been scarce when it came to a Crimson Dragon, however, she had interrogated a convict from The Facility called Tenzen Yanagi, who told her about the Crimson Dragon, she was dubious at first due to the fact that he was a convict and that he looked like he was already crazy, but given that the information about the Crimson Dragon was as inexistent as the information about Sasaki Yuya, she gave him an opportunity, from what she got of him the Crimson Dragon was apparently an antique deity that protected the Earth from the Dark Signers alongside 6 dragons, the Dark Signers were pushed back by them but were not destroyed, waiting until they recovered their strength to finally destroy the Crimson Dragon, she was convinced by the information, for now, but she had discovered something more about the Zero Reverse while doing her own research, the incident that took place 17 years ago, even with her rank getting information about the Zero Reverse was hard to find.

However, she managed to get a small glimpse due to a small window in the back of the database, managing to get some information, she had her suspects on Goodwin since she entered the force, but now she knew that he was up to something, what she find was the name of the two lead scientist in charge of the first Ener-D Reactor were Dr. Fudo Hayato and Dr. Roman Goodwin, she also found a photo on the small information she found, appearing a tall, blue-eyed man with spiky black hair and a tall and tanned man that looked way similar to Goodwin. The fact that she found the similar appearance to Goodwin was not only shocking, but intriguing, however, when she tried to search for anything relating to a Rex Goodwin she found nothing, the same happened when she searched for Dr. Fudo, however she did notice that, while Dr. Fudo and Rex Goodwin were inexistent on the database of Security, there was a recent convict that got released from The Facility one day ago, his name was Fudo Yusei, age 17, who highly resembled the now deceased Dr. Fudo, most probably his son, but his archive indicated that he was from Satellite and got caught during an illegal match against the current and arrogant Duel King, Jack Atlas, if her suspicious were correct then he was the son of Dr. Fudo, how did he end up in Satellite? How did he survive? He must have been a newborn when the incident happened, but there wasn't a lot of places a newborn kid could have been to survive.

Junko gave an exasperated sigh at the look of things, she hasn't slept well due to her curiosity and it was takin it's toll right now, it didn't help that Yeager had her follow up Sasaki Yuya until she found out at least a bit of information of him, there was nothing but she managed to heard a conversation he had with two girls, and he was apparently from Miami and his current age was 17, however that was everything that he told them, and the rest of the week he started to become aware of his surroundings, and whenever she turned around to see where he was he was already going, almost as if someone told him that he was being observed, it keep happening until she could no longer catch up to him, she had to use the little information to inform Yeager, who, even with disappointed, accepted the information. The while situation had her exhausted but she kept looking for anything that could help her in her research, whatever Goodwin was planning, she was going to stop him!

* * *

Tera and Mika sat on the bench they were before, they had passed the entire day on the park with the twins and they were beat, it was afternoon already and the twins decided to go to their apartment by themselves, however they wanted to stay just a bit longer on the park, it seemed that they didn't go outside too often if an ordinary park was so exciting to them, they could see that the twins were starting to get tired, specially Luna, who didn't really do a lot since she came, more than see Yuya and Leo had a friendly duel, they decided to leave it at a draw but she must admit that Leo definitely had skills, managing to get half of Yuya's life points before declaring the draw, it was almost as if those three were actual siblings, they were curious about how did he met them, there was simply no way Yuya could have been in the Tops area from the start, if that was the case then he would have leave their home already, and those kids were one fo the richest person in town, well, the kids of one of them, it was definitely impossible to get in contact with one of them unless you were a Top yourself, they were so focused on the matter that they didn't noticed the three of them coming their way.

"Hey guys, we are leaving"

Yuya offered his hand to the two, who blushed a little at the gesture, Mika was about to take it when Tera's hand out speed her own, taking his hand while sending a little smirk that could only be seen by Mika, who got slightly jealous of her.

Making their way to the Tops Area, Mika decided that it was a good idea to have a little chat, however, before she could ask about how they met Leo beat her on the conversation.

"Say Yuya, why don't you come more often? It's always great when you come around."

"Oh well, I am still new in the city so I don't know very well the streets and all, I've already know enough to move freely but even then, whenever I wanted to come by I could just walk, and I don't have a way to go faster.

Tera and Mika got a comprehensive look on them, it was true that Yuya didn't had a D-Wheeler to move freely through Domino and had to go walking wherever he wanted to go, he never looked tired though, however, Yuya didn't come to see the twins sooner because of one reason, on the 3rd day after he arrived he started to feel as if he was being followed, at first he thought it was paranoia but a little of aerial sightseeing from Clear Wing showed that someone was indeed following him, so he started to take more and more hard and/or dangerous routes to go, and to make sure that he lost him/her, he took as he looked to call it, the "Action route", going from obstacle to obstacle was no problem to him, after all, he was one of the best Action Duelist back in Maiami, some dumpsters and fences were no problem to him.

"I'd love to have a D-Wheel though, you know, that way I could come more often, but, as you know they are pretty expensive and I am quite broken for the moment"

Yuya said sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head, all of them knew how expensive a D-Wheel could be, and Yuya became more well aware of this due to Clear Wing, it would make things easier, but most importantly, it would be the way to search for the other signers, he had the suspicious that the remaining signers had a D-Wheel, most probably the Jack and Crow of this timeline.

Luna, being the shy girl that she was quietly listening, until she remembered something that she saw on the TV.

"Yuya, there is one way you could get a D-Wheel"

Everyone stopped and stared at Luna, who got surprised and a little scared but soon overthrow her negative thoughts, instead focusing solemnly on Yuya.

"The Bolder & Company charity event"

Mika's eyes widened when she heard Luna, of course that was an incredible opportunity, she had completely forgot about it.

"She is right, you could participate, Yuya, the winner of the charity event gets his hands on a completely new and limited D-Wheel, it's your opportunity to get a D-Wheel, you just have to beat the chosen duelist that represent Bolder & Company and you get it."

Yuya was in thought about this, he had read about the charity event taking place tomorrow on the afternoon, sure it was a perfect opportunity to get his hands on a D-Wheel, and for free no less, but he had to defeat the selected duelist chosen by them, a Pro duelist by the name of Nicolas Quade, who was known for, while being a good duelist, finishing his opponents with atrocious attacks, most of them getting injuries, and while it would be a risk to duel against him, he was already toughtened up for attacks like that, and he had already dueled against a Karakuri deck before, he started to smile at the idea.

"When is the event?"


	9. The master of summon

Today was an important day for our tomato-haired hero, the day where the Bolger & Company charity event was taking place and where the opportunity to win a D-Wheel was present, Yuya had woken this morning with one sole thought, win the D-Wheel and bring a smile to the public in the process, he was confident in his dueling abilities and was actually excited to duel in a stadium again. He was walking to the stadium with Tera on his side due to Mika offering herself to bring the twins to the stadium, arguing that it was far enough to be unsafe for two children, Tera and Yuya finally accepted as long as she was on time for the opening ceremony, the two were walking to the registration room to get Yuya signed up when Yuya had a closer view of the stadium.

"Wow, the stadium is bigger than I thought"

"It should be, this is where the D-Wheel license test take place, and for security measures the circuit inside must be long enough so that no accidents happen, but given that today is a charity event for such a big prize the duels are effectuated on ground, this way everyone could see the duel without having to look at the screen most of the time"

"You seem to know a lot about these kind of events"

"Of course I would know, events like these usually attract a lot of strong duelist, usually getting defeated by the selected duelist of the company, as a matter of fact, the guy you are going to duel with is none other than the strongest duelist Bolger & Company could get their hands on, supposedly unbeatable with his 'Synchro Swarm' and all that, but I believe that it's just talking"

"Well, if Nicolas is as good as you say then I'd better duel like I used to do back in home"

Tera's curiosity perked up after hearing this.

"This isn't your first time in a stadium like this is it?"

"Well, not really, back in home I manage to enter in a famous tournament known in the city, back then I had to duel with all I had, not holding back, I even learned how to fusion summon in the process, thought I have to admit, I was way cocky back then"

"Wow, that sounds impressive, but why did you choose Fusion Summon"

"Well, we do have Synchro Summon but in my city we used to use all of the summoning methods until now, let it be Advanced, Fusion, Synchro or Ritual"

"Really? All of them? That's incredible, I don't complain on Neo Domino but a place where you can find any type of duelist, sounds like a paradise"

"You could say that"

Both of them stopped ther little chat when they found the registration room to enter, walking into the room Yuya walked into the nearest desk with a clerk on it.

"Hi, I'd like to enter on the charity event."

The clerk just looked at him and then handed him a thin piece of paper with the information he had to place in order to enter, with all in order he handed the paper back to the clerk and she placed the information in a computer, some seconds later she handed Yuya a piece of paper with the number 15 written on it.

"Thanks for entering in the Bolger & Company charity event, the number given to you is the given turn to be able to duel, you will have to wait in the locker room with the rest of the competitors, Bolger & Company wish you the best of luck"

Both Yuya and Tera got out and headed to the entrance when they finished Yuya's registration, Yuya was a little thrown off because he could swear that he heard a 'you will need it' from the clerk, he searched for Nicolas name and discovered that most of his duels ended bad for his adversaries but he didn't think it was that bad, he shrugged it off when he could see Mika standing with Leo and Luna on her sides, both of them approaching Yuya to meet him, Leo being the first as usual with Luna close behind.

"Hey Yuya, have you signed up yet?"

"Yeah, just registered right now"

Leo smirked at his words, he was extremely confident that Yuya could win, while Luna was happy that Yuya managed to enter the event.

"Great, I'm sure that new D-Wheel is already yours, and with your Advanced summon no one is going to stop you"

Leo said enthusiastically while Luna giggled at his brother. Tera was smiling until a thought passed through her mind, Yuya had told her that in his city everyone used every summoning method in existence, the twins had already said that he could make Advanced summon without problems, and she had seen him use Fusion summon before, and with a tuner no less! Could this mean…

"We should get going, the opening ceremony will start soon"

Mika said getting everyone's attention and getting Tera out of her trance, everyone started walking toward the stadium seats, with the exception of Yuya, who was going to the stage locker.

* * *

Yuya was near the male locker and was about to enter when a girl with black hair and carrying a big camera came rushing at him, making the two of them fall on their backs, Yuya was a bit dazed but the girl stood quickly, offering her hand to help him, Yuya took it and stood up, looking at the girl he could see that she was panting, he was about to ask if she was okay but before he could speak the girl just said 'Sorry' while rushing to where he came from, Yuya wondered what was her deal until he heard an squeal from the floor, looking down he could see a yellow fairy-like monster who was apparently calling for the girl, he took the card and looked at the name.

"Fortune Fairy Hikari"

It looked like a level 1 Normal monster the girl had, must have fallen when they clashed. Yuya wondered if he should chase the girl to give her card but then heard a commotion coming from the lockers.

"The event must be starting"

Yuya sighed as he had no other option, placing the card in the pocket where he placed his pendulum cards he walked toward the locker room, he was going to gave her the card when the event ended, besides, a girl with glasses like that can't be much of a trouble to find.

* * *

Mika, Tera, Leo and Luna finally founded a seat on the stadium, from outside you couldn't see a lot of people, but, once you were inside you could see that most of the seats in the stadium where either occupied or reserved, the four of them were getting a hard time to actually get some seats until Tera managed to spot four completely free seats, the four of them rushed to sit before anyone could come, it appears that a lot of persons were eager to see the charity event, or to be more precise, to see the duels happening today, to be honest with herself, Tera was a bit worried, she was confident that Yuya could handle himself but this guy was known for injuring his opponents during the duel, not by using real damage but the damage was so overwhelming that it pushed his opponents to fatigue, resulting in injuries in some cases, Mika, on the other hand, was curious as to how Yuya was going to duel, even since his duel with Aki she wondered just how strong he really was, Fusion summon was an almost forgotten option these days and he just used it as if it was natural, and the fact that he used a Tuner Monster to summon it was, at the lack of better words, odd, sure that Dragon was way more powerful than they thought but surely he must have a Synchro just as powerful to have a tuner that would inflict damage to himself, Leo and Luna were waiting anxiously until the duels started, especially Leo.

"Hey, great to see you here"

The four of them turned to the voice and looked at a man with a green jacket and a grey undershirt with blue pants, the twins just stared at him while Tera and Mika smiled at him, Mika being the first to spoke.

"Kaz, haven't seen you in a while"

"I can say the same girls, didn't expected to see you here"

Kaz was happy to see the two girls, he was wondering how the two must've been since the incident, they appeared to be fine by the looks of it, if it wasn't by that guy Yuya they wouldn't even be here having this conversation. He was about to ask if they just wanted to see the duels when he noticed the two kids sitting with the girls, Kaz had completely missed those two. He greeted them and, while the little girl was hesitant at first, greeted back.

"Hey girls, mind if I seat here, there isn't a lot of places and the rest are too high to look at the duels closely"

"Sure/Why not?"

The girls agreed and Kaz seated next to Tera, waiting for the event to start, he was eager to see the duelist who would duel that idiot of Nicolas, he didn't know him but he has seen some of his duels, he was actually sick of the guy and actually hoped that one of these duelist defeated him.

The entire stadium fell silent once they heard a commotion from the center of it, followed by music accompanying a mist that appeared in the middle of the battlefield, when the mist started to dissipate a man with an orange Mohawk and a suit appeared in the idle, none other than Mr. Bolger himself.

"Citizens of Neo Domino City! Welcome to the charity event held by Bolger & Company! I am Susuki Bolger, the sponsor of this event and…

The man now known as Susuki Bolger started a speech on how important were the children to him and why he started this event from the start, most of the people were captivated by his words, while some other, like the few sponsors who attended the event just to look for some "fresh duelist" who could be the new face of their company knew why he was making the event, lately, Bolger & Company has been going on a slow but concerning loss of money, up until now they managed to stay afloat, but, they knew that he was doing this same event not to get money for some 'lost cause' as they would call it, and with the event, B&C would win a contender when Nicolas failed.

The stadium then exploded into cheers after Bolger finished his speech, Bolger then presented Nicolas to the audience, a long haired man that ended in spikes with a point end beard was smirking at all the cheers that he was receiving, the man then took the microphone and started to taunt some of the duelist that choose to deal with him, he recognized some of the duelist, who looked impatient to duel against him, but his attention turned to a young duelist with crazy colored hair, he started to giggle once he saw his face, a full smile was on him, he thought that it would make it better once he completely crushed him, this was his day, and no one was going to take it away.

* * *

Two hours have passed since the event started and the people in the stadium were still seeing how Nicolas defeated each opponent with relatively ease, in some cases he just stalled the duel to see how they couldn't come with anything to even take one of his Karakuri, by now Kaz, Tera, Mika and the twins were sickened at how he ended the duels as if the opponent was just a plaything. Even when some of the people in the stadium were starting to look away after each ending, most keep watching until the end, right now he ordered a full assault on his opponent and even manage to almost throw him off the stage, his opponent just stood and walked away, the smirk Nicolas had grown even bigger once he saw that the next opponent was the tomato guy, and with a determined face and a supporting smile, he almost wanted to laugh at him.

"And now the final duel of the day, Our undefeated champion Nicolas Quade versus the aspiring duelist Sakaki Yuya"

The stadium cheered, especially Tera, Mika and Kaz who wanted that Yuya completely defeated this guy, they were confident that he could do it.

"Hey kiddo, last chance to go away before I kick your sorry butt"

Nicolas insulted Yuya but he started to laugh.

"You surely are confident, but I can assure you that I am not like the other opponents before me"

Nicolas got a scowl instead, seeing as the brat didn't get scared, instead answered back, but it didn't matter, he wants to be defeated that much? Then so be it.

"And now that both duelist are ready, is time to start the last duel of the day"

Yuya started his Duel Disk while Nicolas just placed it in front of him, ready to take down the brat.

 **DUEL**

 **Yuya: 4000 – 5**

 **Nicolas: 4000 – 5**

"As per the rules of the event, the challenger gets the first turn, I draw"

Yuya looked at his hand and inspected it to see what he could do, so far it was a good start.

"I normal summon Performapal Whip Viper from my hand in attack position, then I set two cards and end my turn"

 **Performapal Whip Viper: (1700/900)**

A purple snake with a bow tie and a cup hat appeared on the field with two cards materializing behind him, signaling the end of the turn.

 **Yuya – 3**

Nicolas almost burst of laughing, for a moment he took the kid seriously but now he thought that he was just another loser ready to be taken down.

"You'll be sorry for this kiddo, I draw, and now I activate the continuous spell card Karakuri Anatomy.

A giant green scroll appeared behind Nicolas and opened to show a thin white sheet

"You should know what this card does by now, but I'll repeat his effect anyway, as long as this card remains on the field, it will gain a counter each time a Karakuri monster changes its battle position, with that said I normal summon the tuner monster Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 "Ninishi" in face-up attack position, and now that she is on the field I can normal summon a Karakuri monster in addition to my normal summon, and the monster I choose to summon is Karakuri Ninja mdl 919 "Kuick"

A robotic monster with a green Yukata and a red obi made her appearance, and shortly after a nother robotic monster appeared, this time with a pale red ninja robe wielding a pair of kunais, Nicolas turned to Yuya, expecting to see a surprised or, even better, scared face, but he just saw a determined face with a smile on him, he wants him to get serious, eh? Bad for him.

"Now that I have a tuner and a non-tuner monster on the field I can use them for a Synchro summon, with the level 3 Nanashi and the level 4 Kuick I use them for a Synchro summon"

Both monster floated on the battlefield with Ninishi becoming three green rings and Kuick becoming four white stars.

"Mechanical samurai who rules the showdown castle, guide your troops to the victory and defeat anyone who cross your path! Synchro summon! Appear, Karakuri shogun mdl 00 "Burei"

When the light died down a mighty machine with a ceremonial Samurai armor and horns holding a Bansho Fan appeared on the field, taking a sitting position, as it was in defense position

 **Karakuri shogun mdl 00 "Burei": (2600/1900)**

Yuya knew why he summoned Burei in defense position, he wanted to use his effect on himself to place a counter on his spell card and draw a card, and he knew how he was going to get the second counter.

"And now the effect of Burei activates, when this card is Synchro summoned I can special summon one Karakuri monster from my deck, and I choose the level 5 Karakuri ninja mdl 7749 "Nanashick"

Bureido moved his fan in a commanding way and, when he finished, a ninja-like machine appeared out of thin shadows with a red cape wielding a Katana appeared on the field

 **Karakuri ninja mdl 7749 "Nanashick": (2200/1800)**

"Don't think that I've already finished, at this moment I activate the spell card Iron call, with this card I can target one level 4 or lower machine type monster in my graveyard and special summon it with its effect negated, come back to the field Nanashi"

The mechanical maiden appeared once again on the field, covering her face with a fan

 **Karakuri Komachi mdl 224 "Ninishi": (0/1900)**

"And now that I have a level 3 tuner monster and a level 5 non-tuner monster I use them to get the strongest monster in my arsenal"

Both Nanashick and Ninishi floated in the air, Ninishi becoming 3 green rings once again while Nanashick becoming 5 white orbs.

"The strongest of Shogun that reigns with an iron fist, appear now and destroy all who oppose you! Synchro summon! Appear now, Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00x "Bureido"

Once again the light died now to reveal what looked to be a stronger version of Burei, this, however, had a more menacing and higher ranking armor that Burei had, emanating a light blue aura and wielding twin giant swords, unlike Burei, Bureido was summoned in attack position.

 **Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00x "Bureido": (2800/1700)**

Nicolas smiled once he saw that his strategy wasn't interrumped, thinking that the brat just set cards to scare him, but it didn't work, now he had everything to show that puny kid who was boss.

"I activate Bureido's effect, when he is Synchro summoned, I can special summon one Karakuri monster from my deck, and now I choose to bring Karakuri muso mdl 818 "Haipa" in attack position.

Another mechanical monster appeared on the field, this one appeared to be a soldier wielding a giant trident with a big, menacing red eye that looked down at Yuya.

 **Karakuri muso mdl 818 "Haipa": (2100/1100)**

Nicolas laughed when he saw that his field was now prepared for anything that the brat could throw off, especially when he saw what was coming next.

"And now, I'll show you how we duel in the big leagues, I activate Burei's effect to change his position, and now that Burei is in attack position the effect of Bureido kicks in, allowing me to draw a card, while placing a counter on Karakuri Anatomy"

The white sheet appeared to be painted in black tint while writing some Kanji on it.

 **Nicolas: 3**

"And now I-

"I activate Whip Snake's effect, during either player's main phase, I can target one monster on the field, and swap its attack and defense, and I chose Bureido"

Whip Snake came at Bureido at top speed, Bureido tried to slice him but Whip was faster and slapped him in the face with his tail.

 **Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00x "Bureido": (1700/2800)**

Nicolas scowled after seeing how his strongest monster was now the weakest, but he didn't care, he still had the rest to take care of that weak monster.

"Battle, Burei, send that Snake to the afterlife"

Burei lanched himself at top speed and swinged his fang to send air waves that would destroy Whip Snake, however, Whip disappeared in an explosion of confetti, confusing Nicolas.

"I'm not letting Whip Snake to get downed so easily, I activate the trap card Performapal Call, whit this card I target Burei, and negate the attack, furthermore I can add up to two Performapal from my deck whose defense is less than the targeted monster's attack, in this case, as Burei's attack is 2600 I can add from my deck to my hand Performapal Inflater Tapir and Performapal Friendonkey"

The two monsters appeared on the field a brief period of time before getting into ther card form and going into Yuya's hand

 **Yuya: 5**

The entire stadium was impressed, especially Yuya's friends, Leo and Luna were marveled by Yuya's strategy, that not only managed to stop his strongest monster dead on, but also managed to bring two cards from his deck in the process. Tera and Mika were mouth agape, it was almost as if Yuya already knew what was going to happen, and in no moment he showed an ounce of fear, on the other hand, Kaz was laughing at Nicolas, he wished he had a camera right now because his face was pure gold, the stupid duelist had his eyes wide open and then started to scowl.

"It doesn't matter, I still have Haipa and Bureido's attack, go Haipa, take down that Snake for once and for all"

Haipa launched himself at Whip Snake, ready to take him down and damage his master in the process, however, when he destroyed Whip Snake his attack was halted by a purple barrier that looked to be impenetrable.

"At this moment I activate the effect of Inflater Tapir, by discarding this card I can negate the damage you and I take from this battle"

The purple shield dissipated and showed an unhurt Yuya on the field, Nicolas was already fuming at this point, but then smirked once he saw his monster changing position

"At this moment the effect of Haipa activates, changing him to defense position, and due to Bureido's effect I can draw a card, furthermore the last counter is placed on Karakuri Anatomy"

 **Nicolas: 4**

"And now that you are open for attacks I send Bureido to attack you directly"

Bureido started to place his swords in a menacing position before launching at Yuya, however, before he could slash him with his blades, Inflater Tapir appeared on the field in defense position, protecting Yuya from damage.

 **Performapal Inflater Tapir: (1000/2000)**

"At this moment I activate the grave eff of Inflater Tapir, when I receive a direct attack, I can discard one Performapal monster to special summon it from the grave, but it is banished when he leaves the field, by the way, the card I discarded was Friendonkey"

Nicolas was no completely enraged at Yuya, who was now mocking him with his joke of monsters, he had enough, and now was going to go full out on him, he couldn't do it on this turn, but on the next, he was going to pay.

"I send Karakuri Anatomy to the graveyard to draw two cards.

 **Nicolas: 6**

"I set FIVE CARDS and end my turn!"

 **Nicolas: 1**

"At this moment the effect of Whip Viper ends and Bureido recover his attack"

 **Karakuri Steel Shogun mdl 00x "Bureido": (2800/1700)**

Yuya was not going to lie, he was actually enjoying the duel so far, the guy may be a jerk, but duels this intense were the reason why he enjoyed dueling.

"I can assure you Nicolas, I've actually enjoyed this duel so far, as I see it, the fun has just begun!"

 **Yuya: 4**

Yuya smiled once he saw his draw, his most trusted partner Odd-Eyes, and with the cards he had, it was time to start the show.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! As you can see, my opponent has the upper hand, however, his field will not last long."

Everyone on the field were marveled at Yuya's enthusiasm, some people started to smile at him, actually hoping that he could defeat Nicolas while some other were sceptic.

"First I activate the trap card, Reckless Greed, when I activate this card I can draw 2 cards from my deck, at the cost of skipping my next 2 draw phases, and now I activate Cup of Ace, I flip a coin and should the coin falls on heads I can draw 2 cards, but if it falls on tails you draw 2 cards"

The coin was launched and in finally landed in heads, giving Yuya the superior hand against Nicolas.

 **Yuya: 7**

"And now it's time to place the stars of this show on the stage, I activate the spell card Polymerization, with this card I can use monsters from my hand of field to special summon a Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, I use the recently added Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon and Performapal Life Sword to Fusion Summon a monster from my Extra deck"

The entire stadium was mouth agape at what Yuya did, especially Nicolas, he could see the monster that was used as a Fusion material, and it was a Ritual monster, why would he use a Ritual monster as Fusion fodder? His thoughts were interrumped when a blue Silhouette appeared on the stage resembling a dragon along with a small child with a yellow sword, both appeared to enter a vortex.

"The dragon that rules the earth with his overwhelming pressure and the warrior that protects life, become one to bring the protector of innocents! Fusion summon! Appear, Level 8, Performapal Odd-Eyes Metal Claw!

Yuya clapped his hands together and a ferocious monster appeared from the vortex, being a giant wolf that was clad in a dragon armor, it had long claws that would intimidate everyone, as fast as he touched the field he mocked all of Nicolas monsters.

 **Performapal Odd-Eyes Metal Claw: (3000/2000)**

Everyone on the field were marveled at what Yuya did, but now they were marveled at the monster that was on it, it looked breathtakingly cool while leaving an aura of protection, however, it looked like Nicolas had other plans.

"Trap card open, Bottomless Trap Hole, when a monster is summoned on my opponent's side of the field, I can destroy it and banish it"

A giant ogre appeared from a hole in the ground that tried to take Metal Claw, but he just side stepped while leaving his face full of scratches.

"Good try, but when Metal Claw is summoned with a Polymerization card, he becomes completely immune to other card effects"

Nicolas scowled while the audience breathed a sigh of relief and then become more marveled after what was going next.

"And now that Metal Claw is on the field I can activate the card that will bring me victory, I activate the Ritual spell card Odd-Eyes Advent, with this card I can special summon a Ritual monster from either my hand or my graveyard, by using monsters as a sacrifice to him, from my hand I tribute my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to Ritual summon Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon from my grave!"

Yuya omitted the pendulum part of the card, but it wasn't as he needed to say it, placing both of his arms on his sides he started to chant as a desk with a golden emblem appeared on the field.

"Dragon that rules the earth with his overwhelming pressure, who can bring down any enemy at his feet, appear before me, Ritual summon! Appear, Level 7, Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon!"

A giant blue dragon with an orange underbelly appeared on the field, without touching it as it appeared to float over the battlefield with his feet hovering over it, golden chains on his sides, he sent a roar that sent shivers to every monster Nicolas had.

 **Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon: (2800/2500)**

Nicolas was perplexed at the monster in front of him, from wherever he sees it, he couldn't shake a feeling of fear that came to him, he was about to activate one of his set traps when an odd pressure took over him, on the seats, Mika, Tera, Leo, Luna and Kaz looked at the monster, impressed at how it had a different set of colors, pretty much like Yuya but with different tones, in this case red and blue.

"At this moment I activate the effect of Gravity Dragon, when this card is successfully Ritual summoned I can return all set spell/trap cards my opponent controls to the hand, and you cannot activate a card in response to this effect, go Gravity Dragon! Gravity Crush!"

Gravity Dragon roared with all his might as the left four cards Nicolas had to defend himself were enveloped in a thin bluish aura, each one of them becoming white until they left the field. Nicolas was completely taken back by this, this means that the guy had everything to make a complete comeback, more than enough to destroy two of his monsters, but he felt that he was not finished, not at all, while the entire stadium exploded in cheers after seeing the monster Yuya summoned and how it managed to throw him to the advantage once again, some persons started to cheer at Yuya while the skeptical people started to smile at him, Mika and Tera got smiles on their faces while Kaz was laughing at Nicolas.

"And now, it's time for the next star of the show, I normal summon the tuner monster Tuning Magician in attack mode"

Tuning Magician appeared on the field holding her staff and then making the peace sign shortly after appearing, causing most of the girls in the audience to squeal.

"When Tuning Magician is summoned on my field, my opponent gains 400 life points while I receive 400 points of damage"

Tuning Magician touched her staff, sending some shockwaves that felt quite pleasant for Nicolas while Yuya covered his ears due to the shockwave.

 **Yuya: 3600**

 **Nicolas:4400**

Nicolas would have laughed due to his opponent inflicting damage to himself, but right now he was feeling nervous, this kid was definitely a pushover, and right now he had enough for a Synchro summon, Yuya, on the other hand, could hear the voice of a feminine being saying that it was finally her turn, followed by her saying that it was time to show him how a real Synchro monster looks.

"The price I paid is well received, because now I can Synchro summon with the level 1 Tuning Magician and the level 6 Inflater Tapir!"

Tuning Magician put on a serious face after becoming a single green ring that actually looked more detailed than the usual Synchro rings, with Inflater Tapir becoming 6 white orbs.

"Spread those wondrous and beautiful wings, and strike down your enemies at the speed of light! Synchro Summon! Appear now! Clear Wing Synchro Dragon!"

The green ring became bigger and from it a beautiful white, blue and black dragon with yellow eyes appeared on the field, soaring in the sky while giving a beautiful cry with the light reflecting on her wings and making them brighter, the dragon fled near the audience until it finally stood on the field, watching the rest of Nicolas monsters with a menacing glare.

 **Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: (2500/2000)**

"And now Nicolas, I will show you the last star of this duel, I activate the Normal spell card Monster Reborn! With this card I can special summon one monster from either player's graveyard, appear! Wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!

A blue portal opened on the sky, from it a giant red silhouette fell from it, the moment the being touched the ground a dragon with red scales that engulfed his body appeared, the dragon had two bone-like wings that had two green spheres on his right side while it had a bigger red sphere on his left side, the dragon roared after finally making his presence in the field, the stadium was in ecstasy after witnessing a duelist managing to summon a monster from each type of summon, while Yuya's friends stood mouth agape at the monster, the similarities it had with Yuya was astonishing, and what impressed them the most was that it had the same Heterochromatic eyes that Yuya had, Leo and Luna were so impressed that they didn't noticed a faint red line in their arms. Nicolas was left with no words, the fear he felt was impossible to describe, for first time since he started with the duels of this event he felt that he could lose. Yuya looked at Odd-Eyes with a proud face, the excitement from the crowd could be felt in the battlefield, and now it was time for the climax!

"Battle! Performapal Odd-Eyes Metal Claw, attack Bureido"

Metal Claw placed himself in a battle stance and came closer to Bureido, Bureido tried to slash Metal Claw but he was faster, and in the end he could only defend itself, seeing how his claws started to gain a bright light

"At this moment the effect of Metal Claw activates, when he declares an attack, all monster I control gains 300 points of attack until the end of the battle phase"

 **Performapal Odd-Eyes Metal Claw: 3300**

 **Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon: 3100**

 **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: 2800**

 **Clear Wing Synchro Dragon: 2800**

Bureido's swords finally gave in and were ripped apart, leaving a wide slash across his chest until he finally exploded, with Metal Claw howling at the air, with the rest of the dragons roaring at the sky, gaining a small but generous buff.

 **Nicolas: 4400-500 = 3900**

"Now Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Burei, Spiral Strike Burst!"

Odd-Eyes started to charge a beam from his mouth, the moment he had it completely charged he launched the beam toward Burei, who was completely defenseless against it.

"At this moment the effect of Odd-Eyes activates, when he battles against an opponent monster, all battle damage is doubled, Reaction Force!"

The beam Odd-Eyes launched doubled in power and completely engulfed Burei, leaving nothing and damaging Nicolas.

 **Nicolas: 3900-400 = 3500**

"Clear Wing Synchro Dragon, attack Haipa, Whirlwind Helldive Slash!"

Clear wing fled to the sky, spinning in the way while being engulfed in a beautiful green wind, when she reached a certain altitude she stopped spinning and then launched herself at Haipa, he was defenseless against Clear Wing's impact.

"And now Odd-Eyes Gravity Dragon, attack Nicolas directly, Spiral Gravity Burst!"

Nicolas screamed after receiving blue and white beam from Gravity Dragon, leaving him with just a chunk of life point.

 **Nicolas: 3500-3100 = 400**

The stadium was cheering loudly, after witnessing Yuya turn the duel in his favor completely astonished everyone, there was no person that thought that Nicolas would actually recover from Yuya's attacks, Nicolas was looking at Yuya with disdain, and then with complete rage, the brat had humiliated him in television, the event was broadcasted across all of Neo Domino and now he was a walking joke! But he was going to have his revenge on his turn.

"With this I end my turn"

 **Yuya: 0**

Nicolas was having a hard time right now, but he was going to turn this around.

"I- I… DRAW"

Nicolas draw placed a wicked smile on his face, it was Dark Hole, the brat was now going to get it, he was going to be completely defenseless and he would win the right to be called a real champion!

"he… HAHAHA, looks like you ran out of luck kid, the card I draw was Dark Hole, and now I- "

"Will keep it in your hand, due to the effect of Gravity Dragon, whenever you want to activate a card effect, you must pay 500 points of life, as you only have 400 points, you can't activate any card effect!"

Nicolas wicked smile turned into a frown that quickly took the form of a hopeless look, he had already lost and could do nothing to defeat Yuya.

"…I end my turn"

 **Nicolas: 6**

Yuya closed his eyes, it was his turn and he wasted no time

"Go! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! With those dual-colored eyes of yours, lay waste to all you see! Spiral Strike Burst!"

Nicolas just saw as that dichromatic dragon launched a beam against him, waiting for it to take him out, the beam hit him like a truck and took all of his life points.

 **Nicolas: 400-2500 = 0**

 **Yuya wins!**

Nicolas could hear how the entire stadium was chanting Yuya's name, he didn't even bother to look at his opponent, he was now a joke, nothing but a-

"Good duel, Nicolas"

Nicolas looked in front of him, Yuya was offering his hand for a handshake, any other duelist would have accepted, but this guy screwed his entire career with some circus animals and a bunch of dragons, Nicolas slapped Yuya's hand and ran to the exit of the stadium, he needed a beer, a cold beer to forget about this complete mess.

Yuya looked at the direction Nicolas ran off, he imagined something like this would happen, it reminded him of his first duel with Kachidoki, he was going to go after him but was stopped by Bolger.

"Congratulation on you win Mr. Sasaki, please go with me so you can receive your prize"

Yuya walked next to Bolger to a podium near some cameras, soon flashes and questions assaulted Yuya, leaving him a bit dazed, he finally reached the podium and shook his hand with Bolger, maybe Nicolas was out of reach, but he did bring a smile to everyone on the audience. Clear Wing and Odd-Eyes roared at the sky for their success while doing a quite complicated claw bump.

* * *

Mika, Tera, Leo, Luna and Kaz were waiting for Yuya at the entrance of the stadium, ready to congratulate him for the duel, Leo hasn't been able to shut his mouth after the duel, saying that Yuya had managed to do something that was unseen to this day, use all summoning methods in one turn.

"I still can't believe that Yuya is this strong, I can't wait to have a duel with him at full strength"

While Luna was telling Leo to calm down, Tera was still trying to digest everything she saw.

"Looks like he wasn't lying"

Mika and Kaz heard what she said and turned to see her.

"What did you said?"

"Oh nothing… do you hear that?"

Everyone turned to the north entrance of the stadium, astonished, looking at Yuya, who was now riding a crimson red Duel Runner, Yuya drive until he was near the five, parking his new D-Wheel in the nearby parking lot, he walked to his friends with his new helmet on hand.

"Looks like you've seen a ghost"

Yuya stopped when he reached his friends, the first to speak was Leo, who was too excited to even talk properly, shortly after the rest of them congratulated Yuya on his win, he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Hey, it's not that big of a deal"

Kaz laughed at his words.

"I'd actually think that it was that big, the event was being broadcast at the entire city, you were seen pretty much by everyone who had a TV on their house"

Yuya rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, sure he knew about the cameras but it wasn't as if he was famous just because of a victory, Leo just laughed.

"And not only you make a big show in front of everyone but you won a one-of-a-kind D-Wheel, just look at it.

Leo said while turning his attention to the D-Wheel in the parking lot, to them it was an incredible D-Wheel that not only looked gorgeous, but sound powerful, but to him it looked like the standard D-Wheel he used back in the Friendship Cup, only difference is that the wheels had a lightweight rim instead of the shining interiors the other had.

" _It looks kind of flat to me to be honest, Yugo's Duel Runner looked better"_

He didn't really mind the look of the D-Wheel, he was not going to complain about the look since he just needed a bike as of now, sure it was lacking in design against Jack or Crow's Duel Runner but it's not like he was going to leave it like that, maybe he could modify it in the future, when he had money… or a place to call his own at least. He was about to answer to Clear Wing when he saw someone getting out of the stadium, it was a girl that looked kind of depressed, Yuya recognized her as the one that rammed into him when he was looking for the lockers, seeing as everyone was talking about his Duel Runner he decided to go with the girl and give the card that she left on the floor.

As Yuya walked to the girl he noticed that she took a decisive face and then took at least 1 cards from her deck, after that she looked better after seeing her hand, now that he thought about it the card she dropped had a fortune-like description as the lore, maybe she took cards from her deck to know her fortune? Well, he was about to know because he was now standing right at her side.

"Hey there"

The girl looked at Yuya and became shocked after seeing who was in front of her, Yuya had already seen her in the group of reporters that were in the stadium's podium, she was right in front of her when she was pushed back by a blonde woman, followed by another reporter, the same cycle happened until she was right at the end of the group, he frowned after he was what a person could do just for an interview, so Yuya decided that he would give her the card.

"Are you alright?"

The girl quickly regained her senses and acknowledged the guy in front of her.

"You're– "

"The guy you bumped in the morning"

The girl got a sweat drop after remembering the incident, for a moment she thought that he just wanted an apology until she saw him taking a card from his pocket.

"You dropped this on the rush"

The girl looked at the card and got a bright on her lenses after looking at it, it was her Fortune Fairy Hikari, she wondered where it was after trying to look at her luck and realizing that she didn't had it, she took it from Yuya's hand and quickly returned her to the deck, she couldn't see it but all of the fairies appeared in front of Hikari, hugging her while shouting her name, he chuckled silently at the scene, but quickly regained his focus on the women in front of him.

"Thank you, I've been searching for this card since I crashed into you"

"Don't mention it, just be more careful"

Yuya turned around and was about to go to when he felt a hand on his wrist.

"Wait, would you mind if I took a photograph?"

Yuya looked at her and, after thinking it, he let her take the shot, he kind of feel bad for her, must have missed the shot back at the podium. Striking a pose, Yuya let her take the photograph, when she took it, Yuya could hear her mutter something on the lines of finally doing something right, after thanking Yuya for the photo she turned to go before telling him one more thing.

"I am Carly Nagisa by the way"

Yuya smiled and walked back to his friends who haven't realized that he had gone to talk to a girl… who knows, maybe he would see Carly sooner or later.

* * *

Yeager was walking as fast as possible, so fast that he almost crashed with the people inside the Security Bureau, he had received an alarming notification coming from the Ener-D reactor that was connected with the charity event that was held this morning and, to his surprise, to the new signer that appeared a week ago. Yeager was nervous about how Goodwing would take this information, he looked surprised when this man appeared for the first time, even since then he appeared to be a top priority for Goodwin, anything Yuya did was monitored by Goodwin, every place he visited and any relationship he could have was to be brought to him personally, what was really throwing off Yeager was why he was so interesting to Goodwin? There were other signers by the information he had been filled with, but they weren't monitored by Security just like Yuya was, maybe is because of this information that Goodwin was really interested in him.

Yeager arrived at Goodwin's office and slammed the door open, getting a glare from Goodwin, who appeared to be talking with a man with long hair and a large ponytail that reached to his back, with him was a young looking woman with brunette hair that reached to her waist, Yeager petrified after looking at the scene, he didn't want to be on the bad side of Goodwin, the last thing he needed was to lose his job, or worse, being taken care of by him.

"I believe you have an excuse for your rudeness, Yeager"

Yaeger quickly regained his senses and remembered why he was here.

"S-sorry director Goodwin, it's just that I have important news coming from the Ener-D reactor that concerns you"

The two persons in front of Goodwin looked at Yeager with a serious expression, he was startled by the two, specially by the women in front of him, he could've sworn that he had seen her somewhere before but he couldn't remember, however the man stood up.

"Our business here has ended, there is no further thing to discuss Mr. Goodwin, with your permission."

The both of them got out of Goodwin's office, leaving Yeager alone with Goodwin.

"Now Yeager, what is so important that you have to interrupt a meeting with the directors of Kaiba Corp."

Yeager was thrown off by what Goodwin had said, he interrupted a meeting with the heads of the Kaiba Corporation? That means that the man with the long ponytail must be none other than Mokuba Kaiba, and that the women on his side was…

Yeager regained his senses once again and adopted a serious face.

"We got information concerning Sakaki Yuya."

Goodwin smiled at Yeager for the first time.

"Go on"

"We got a report coming from the Ener-D reactor, apparently at the moment of the charity event that was held today, the reactor showed an astounding increase in power"

Goodwin was listening to Yeager with patience, but if this is what he wanted to say then he was actually losing his time, the next part however, planted a serious expression on his part.

"The power increased was the same as when the Fusion monster appeared on the field, however, the report also says that this increase happened three times consecutively. Comparing this with the time the charity event was held, we observed that Sakaki Yuya was having a duel and that, well… he summoned three different dragons on his turn, one belonging to the Synchro department, the other belonging to the Ritual department and the last one has been the most shocking of the three, when we tried to get information about these cards no data showed up more than what was shown on the duel and how he summoned them, however, the last monster belonging from the Main Deck didn't appeared on any of the summoning departments, in fact, it showed on the Spell search, after that, any other search always ended up in the same results"

To confirm this, Yeager took the pad he had with him and showed it to Goodwin, typing the name of the last dragon that was seen on his possession, his 'Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon' showed an error sign to appear immediately. Goodwin sat and closed his eyes, processing the information that Yeager had brought to him.

"So you are saying that Sakaki Yuya is not only able to perform all of the summoning methods up to date, but that he has more than one Signer Dragon on his possession?"

Yeager nodded at Goodwin, looking more relaxed now, Goodwin on the other hand was completely shocked, he had expected Yuya to be another Signer to be cautious of, but now he had him as the strongest Signer as of now. Goodwin smiled, the Crimson Dragon must have had an involvement in this, he was sure of it, now that he had confirmed that this new Signer was by far the biggest threat to his plans he could start to take measures.

"Thanks for the information, you are dismissed."

Yeager bowed to Goodwin and proceeded to get out, Goodwin looked at the window, this new Signer was definitely going to be a problem, but there's no person that can't be defeated, and a new signer was not going to stop him!

* * *

 **AND NOW! With this chapter I mark the end of the succesive chapters, this means that I'm still working on the next chapter, other thing that I have to say is that I apparently still got it! this duel was not easy to do but I manage to write it, and, if you wonder about some cards that Yuya never used like Cup of ace or Reckless greed, well, he got them after his journey through the Synchro dimension, and the one thing that all of you must be wondering, yes, Yusei is appearing soon, very soon if I must say. It sure was a long time since I said this but, Pilot out!**


	10. A fateful encounter

"What a day"

Yuya said as he walked to the elevator of the top residential area, with him was a smiling Leo and a worried Luna. Both of them asked Yuya If he could come along for the night, he thought for a moment about it and agreed, the twins were happy that Yuya accepted, not knowing why he agreed so easily, for some reason Yuya wanted to stay at Tops, as if something was calling for him.

Luna was watching her surroundings, being careful not to run into Tenpei, he would probably raise ebough attention for security to come, and the last thing they needed was for Yuya to have problems.

As soon as Luna thought about the video that Tenpei, shivers ran through her body, the thought of Yuya alongside that purple dragon was still lingering in her mind, she trusted him as much as Leo did, and could even talk to him without problem, and looking at the duels he has had, anyone could see that he was a high caliber duelist, but the Black Rose was a legend, feared across Neo Domino, and if what she saw was real then not only he survived, but could even go against her, probably even defeating her! With an exasperated sight she looked at his brother, who was talking to Yuya, she couldn't help but smile, maybe she was overthinking this whole situation, Luna decided to leave those thoughts aside and focus on the rest of the day.

* * *

Yuya, leo and Luna were inside the apartment, with Yuya teaching them some advanced fusion facts, with both of them listening closely to him.

"…and other thing you should remember is that, when a monster is Fusion summoned with the help of a card, like Polymerization, you have to negate the activation of the card, otherwise, the monster will be summoned.

The twins were writing what Yuya was telling them, it all started with Leo asking Yuya if he could teach them the basic of other summoning methods, saying that it would help him in school, Yuya agreed with no problem and started his small 'class' with Leo, with Luna coming along due to her curiosity.

"Now that we covered the basic of Fusion summoning, we can go to more advanced- "

"Wait, what do you mean basic? I thought that this was an advanced learning"

Leo said without hesitation, winning a light chuckle from Yuya

"It actually is the most basic teaching you will get in a Fusion course, but that doesn't mean that it's not important, the advanced class involves things like Contact Fusion, Fusion without using a Polymerization card, cards that are used as Fusion substitutes, things like that"

Both twins stared at Yuya with a solemn look, with the same thoughts about the lessons, Leo grinned after scratching the back of his head.

"You know, maybe we should continue tomorrow, it's getting late and, uh…"

Yuya looked at him and couldn't help but laugh, of course they wouldn't want to have the advanced class at such a young age.

"It's ok, we can continue tomorrow"

Leo and Luna let out a sigh they didn't knew they had, when Leo asked for a lesson he expected to have an actual basic lesson, but, if his memory served well, then he and Luna just had an advanced class. Leo sat on the couch from the main room, tired, not even bothering to look at his surroundings. Luna, while tired, was curious about where Yuya learned all of this.

"Yuya, if you don't mind me asking, where did you learned all of this?"

Yuya looked at her and, after thinking it for a while, decided to tell her part of the truth.

"With practice"

Yuya said nonchalantly, as if it was nothing from the other world. Luna just looked at him, sure one could learn by practicing, but the kind of lesson that he gave to them was far more than the basics, Luna didn't know, but Yuya was trying to hide any sort of information that could get him compromised, he had taken the advice of Starve on count, and if someone went after him then the last thing he wanted was for the twins to get involved, and Yuya was being careful on his words, he didn't like it, but the less they knew about his nonexistent past, the better.

Luna, on the other hand, got even more curious, the answer she had from him wasn't enough for her, she really wanted to know, but before she could ask, a yawn escaped her lips, looking at the watch hanging from the wall, it was almost midnight.

Yuya looked at her and then at the watch, he didn't need to put two on two to know what was on her mind.

"Time to sleep"

Yuya went to the main room to tell Leo that it was time to sleep, but he found him snoring loudly. He sighed and then carried him with both arms, he was light to carry, as expected.

Yuya followed Luna to their bedroom, being careful not to wake Leo up.

"Here it is"

Yuya entered carefully and was quite surprised to find that, even with the place they were currently in, their room looked like the one of a normal kid, nevertheless he spotted one of the two beds in the room and placed Leo on one of them, and after making sure that he was in a comfortable position, he left, not before saying good nights at Luna.

"W-wait"

Yuya stopped himself and turned around to see Luna looking at her feet.

"Yes, Luna?"

Yuya got closer and kneeled to see her face to face, whatever it was, it was hard for her to say it, but as soon as he got closer he felt a pressure against him, with two arms on his back, Luna was hugging him.

"Thanks, for being with us"

Yuya was at a loss of words, he didn't expect to have that much of an impact on both of them, but it appeared that he did, the thought placed a little smile on his lips, and returned the hug. The hug was short, but Luna looked really happy, with no trace of regret.

After closing the door, Yuya went to the guest room, with the voice of his most trusted partner echoing through the room.

" _What a lovely scene, wished I had a camera with me"_

Odd-Eyes said with some humor on him, the four dimensional dragons had seen the little moment with Luna.

" _You are quite the charmer, aren't you?"._

Clear Wing said with a mocking voice, with Starve chuckling at her remark.

" _For someone who never had a brother or sister, you do know how to act like one"_

Yuya rubbed the back of his head, a little blush going to his face.

"It's nothing really"

Yuya was taking out his vest and his sweatbands, placing them on a desk, he went to the bed.

"I'm just being the friend they need"

Yuya closed his eyes, he was not tired actually, but sleeping wouldn't be that much of a problem… or at least he thought that.

* * *

Luna woke up in the middle of the night, she rubbed her eyes and turned to the clock at her side.

"2:35 AM"

Luna was tired but, for some reason, when she tried to sleep, the tiredness completely vanished, she was fully awake after trying to sleep another three times, why was she having such a hard time to sleep? She turned to a sound on her right, seeing Leo getting out of his slumber.

"Luna?"

Leo rubbed his eyes and got up from the bed to look at the hour

"2:42 AM? What are you doing at this hour of the night?"

Both twins wondered why they woke at the same time of the night, it was an odd coincidence. They both heard the door of the apartmen open loudly, almost as if someone kicked it, they soon followed the sound, careful of not making any sound, but when they got to the main room, they saw Yuya with a black haired man who looked beat up, both of them run to help Yuya.

* * *

"So you found this guy after you left to test your new D-Wheel?"

Yuya had told them how he had found the guy unconscious in a red Duel Runner, hiding the fact that he actually woke up from a nightmare, and after that he 'felt' his presence down on the corridor.

"When I found him, he was already unconscious, and judging by the screen on his Duel Runner, he was in a duel some minutes ago… sorry if I carried him to your place, but I couldn't just leave him"

"Don't worry, after all, it's just like how we found you, unconscious in the middle of the corridor"

"Yeah, it's no problem, but the next guy who shows up in our apartment better present himself first!

Leo said in a manner of joke, getting a laugh from Yuya and a giggle from Luna.

"Yeah, but now that the problem is solved you should go get some sleep, it's way past your sleep time"

Leo whined after hearing Yuya's words, he wanted to welcome the guy personally rather than letting Yuya handle it himself.

"I don't think I can sleep right now; I am full of ener- "

"Then we can have that lesson right now, it's never too late to learn"

Both Leo and Luna shivered at the thought of having an even harder class than the one they had in the morning, with Leo faking a yawn and leaving to his room, with Luna close behind.

" _He won't make it that far with that attitude"_

Starve Venom said with a strict voice.

"Give him a rest Venom, he's just a kid"

" _Kids or not, they shouldn't avoid a lesson, who knows when it could prove useful"_

Dark Rebellion said with a calm voice, supporting his brother's statement.

"Not until they have at least 14… what are you two doing so late? "

Yuya said changing the conversation.

" _Given the situation at hand and the fact that you woke up gasping heavily, we wanted to know if you're okay"_

Dark Rebellion said with the slightest hint of worry in his voice.

"Oh… well…"

Yuya didn't know if he should tell them about his nightmare, the one where he was being attacked by a possessed Odd-Eyes who was controlled by the same silver-haired man who placed him here in the first place, who was changing form until he looked exactly like himself, he was actually relieved that he woke up before he was struck by another attack.

"I'm okay, just a little nightmare"

Yuya said to the dragons, who didn't ask him further about the matter, Yuya was about to go until Dark Rebellion's voice got his attention.

" _Actually, there is another thing I wanted to ask, you see, I wanted you to give me two Overlay Units"_

Yuya was surprised at his request, and apparently Starve Venom was too.

"Why would you want Overlay Units?"

" _I'm planning on presenting myself to the man monsters, I want to know if he is not dangerous, the overlay units are just in the case that something goes wrong"_

Yuya listened closely to Rebellion's petition, Overlay Units must be harder to get on the Terminal World.

"So you, Odd-Eyes, Clear Wing and Starve Venom want to meet his monsters to be sure he is not dangerous?"

" _Well, just me and Venom, Clear Wing and Odd-Eyes are sleeping right now, and Venom offered himself to help me find them"_

" _Dark Rebellion is a good tracker, but if you want to find someone then I am your monster, besides, it would be better to know that there is someone to find rather than trying to find a monster in that desolated valley that we landed"_

Yuya wanted to know what Starve Venom mean by desolated valley, he thought that the place was full of duel monsters, maybe they were hiding from something? Yuya placed that thought away and, after getting two level 4 monsters from his deck, he placed them on the back of Dark Rebellion.

" _Thanks Yuya, you will not be disappointed, now rest, you need a real rest after today duel"_

Dark Rebellion said after vanishing to the Terminal World, with Starve Venom behind. Yuya sighed and placed his deck on the night stand, near the unconscious men's deck, placing his pendulum on top of it so Leo and Luna could identify them with ease.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Dark Rebellion"

* * *

Dark Rebellion was flying in the dark sky, following the image of Starve Venom, who was following the scent of the guy's monster, he didn't remember that Starve Venom was this fast, if it wasn't for the Overlay Units that gave him access to his full power then he would have a hard time following him.

" _We are close; I can feel it"_

Starve Venom said quickening his pace, Dark Rebellion followed him close and after looking at a light not far enough from his point of view, he stopped.

" _We'll go over the entrance of their camp, remember, we don't want to intimidate them"_

Starve Venom growled after hearing his words for the fifth time.

" _I heard you the first time for Sophia's sake, even I know how to make allies you know?"_

* * *

Junk Warrior was at a medical tent, still feeling that infernal Goyo Guardian cord tightening around himself, he knew Yusei gave the best of him in that duel against Trudge, but that didn't take the pain away.

" _Don't move"_

Junk Gardna was making sure that he didn't had any serious injury, there was no need for a medical checkup, he felt fine, just a little rest and he would be better than ever, but his body had a different opinion after he winced from the pain after Junk Gardna touched his chest in search for any serious injury.

" _If only your attitude changed with that attack, you need to stay here until your injuries heal, and please, don't go fighting the first monster that 'looks like a threat'"_

Junk Warrior rolled his eyes under his visor, he wasn't a kid that should be lectured on what to and what not to do, and those other fights were on behalf of his family.

" _And what if someone tries to attack us, we are the perfect prey, just waiting until a monster shows up to try and ate us"_

"… _really? There is no way someone would try to come to a camp full of Synchro monster and fight their way out just for a prey, no one is that- "_

He was cut off after an alarm sounded through the improvised camp, with Junk Warrior getting out of the tent in no time, he knew that staying here was a bad idea, but whoever thought that he was going to let someone injure him, the he was wrong.

" _-stupid"_

Junk Gardna face palmed after Junk Warrior omitted his instructions, again.

* * *

Dark Rebellion and Starve Venom stood their place, not moving an inch even after they broke an alarm, with an archer clad in orange armor pointing an arrow at Rebellion's heart, they weren't intimidated. Soon multiple monsters started to appear from the camp, a black juggernaut with four arms, then a big warrior armed with an axe with a red armor made his presence, followed by a red robot-like warrior with a pompadour on his head, they were getting surrounded quickly, but didn't showed any sign of fear, in fact, they started to grin at the sight. The last monster to show up was a man in purple armor with a white scarf on his neck, he looked to have some sort of jetpack on his back, and attracted the sight of most of his comrades.

"Leave _if you know what's good for you"_

The man said, trying to intimidate them into getting out of his sight, his googles scanning the two monsters in front of him, he couldn't hide his surprise when he got a closer look at the purple dragon, Fusion monsters were a rare sight these days, and of the few ones he has seen so far, this one appeared to be the most intimidating, but what surprised him even more was what happened when he tried to scan the black dragon with spheres orbiting around him, his googles show a 'No Data Available' to appear, the voice of an apparent monster got him out of thoughts.

" _There is no need to get alarmed, we just wanted to have a chat with you"_

Every monster in the camp looked to be struck with astonishment, the voice came from the purple dragon! None of them had ever seen a dragon talk before, with the exception of two, one who was a backstabbing traitor and the second who was one of their best friends. Soon after the dragon talked, murmurs started to get through the camp, some monsters relaxing while others got their battle stances ready.

" _Explain yourselves"_

Junk Archer said, not aiming at Dark Rebellion anymore.

" _You see; we are two of the monsters from the man who saved your master"_

Dark Rebellion said with a calm, but strong voice, making any other monster that had a battling stance relax after hearing his words, but Junk Warrior was still dubious of his words.

" _There is no proof that shows that you are his monsters, you could be some eavesdropping wyverns that want to fool us to get rid of us"_

Junk Warrior smirked under his mask after seeing the reaction of the two, calling a real dragon by the name of wyvern always makes them show their true destructive instincts.

Starve Venom was ready to take the head of that purple skater, but he had to remind himself that this was not the time or place to 'get acquainted', looking at Dark Rebellion he saw that the floor under him was starting to break, but then calmed himself down after the same thought crossed through his mind.

" _Please restrain yourself from using that word, we are true dragons, but the last thing we want is a fight, and I can assure you that our word is the complete truth"_

Junk Warrior was not ready to believe them yet, sure they had control enough to maintain their ground, but the last dragon that 'gave his word' to him didn't had a problem taking away one of his most trusted friends.

" _Why we should trust you in the first place?"_

Dark Rebellion was waiting this question, and he already had the perfect answer to it.

" _You shouldn't, it would be wiser to attack and get rid of two threat to your comrades"_

Junk Warrior was speechless, was that really his answer?

" _Then again, it would have been wiser for our user to leave your master in the middle of the corridor, patiently waiting until Security catch up to him, placing him in jail, but he didn't do it, and you know why? Because he never thought that this man was a bad person to begin with, he helped him because he felt that it was the correct thing to do, you can try and attack us if you really want to, but ask yourself, is it really the right thing to do?"_

Junk Warrior stood speechless at his words, apparently the dragon in front of him were far more intelligent than he thought, and the power they were emanating was far greater than anything he had seen, rivaling that of the traitor… but.

" _One chance. I am giving you both one chance, but try anything funny and you are done for"_

The monsters at the gate were looking at the dragons with different eyes, not seeing some mindless dragons, but sentient beings that actually made Junk Warrior have a thought for himself. Junk Warrior however was having a hard time right now, some unknown dragon had lectured him in front of his comrades, and the worse of all is that he was right! Even though his brain was telling him that this was definitely a bad idea, his instinct was telling him to trust them.

" _I hope I made the right decision"_

* * *

 **Game, set and match. Hello guys, Pilot here with another chapter done. Everyone probably knows who is the man that Yuya saved, and even if they are not meeting yet, their monsters are, and it doesn't look like they had the best first impression, wondering what will happen next? Wait for the next chapter of The Heterochromatic Duelist, and remember to leave a review, I really like when you leave a review. Pilot out.**


	11. The game of trust

The night sky gleamed with a beautiful dark blue with stars fulfilling the beautiful vision it gave, however, Junk Warrior had his eyes on a more important target for him. Dark Rebellion and Starve Venom went inside the improvised camp, who was filled to the brim with both low-level to high ranking monsters. Dark Rebellion felt nostalgic seeing the quick work that these monsters did while Starve Venom followed the black-armored monster with four arms in front of him, with Junk Warrior's words still going through his head.

The four monster stopped at the biggest tent that could be seen in the camp.

" _Here it is, our temporal headquarter, it's bigger that it looks so don't worry about your body height"_

Dark Rebellion and Starve Venom looked at each other, they were sticking to the idea of making allies within the Terminal World, the lack of monsters in the surroundings was starting to annoy Starve Venom while Dark Rebellion started to get suspicious, and they needed someone to tell them the about this world current situation, and these monsters were the best shot at it.

" _Move already!"_

Junk Warrior angrily passed through both Rebellion and Venom, they didn't like his attitude, and his disgust was the only shared feeling between the three, Junk Warrior was not the type to trust giant behemoths as of nothing, especially after what happened in Satellite.

" _I'll swear to Sophia, if that skater keeps that attitude…"_

" _Calm down, I don't like him more than you, but we need their intel to know what happened to this place"_

Venom growled for a second after calming himself, he was not happy when Dark Rebellion told him to befriend a bunch of stray monsters, even less when he saw the attitude of one of their apparent 'leader' as he liked to call himself, but the number of preys were alarmingly low, to the point of being less than a bunch of Bunilla and one than other Rainbow Fish.

" _You really think they know something about the low rate of monsters"_

" _Even if they don't, there's the chance that we gain an ally, that skater might be a pain in the ass, but I know you could feel it… his fear"_

Starve Venom smirked at his words, it was true that the skater had guts to defy both of them, but his fear for his family could be seen a mile away, he had to admit that it was very brave of him… maybe even a worthy opponent.

" _I'm telling you that those two are just a problem"_

Junk Warrior hit the circular desk in the middle of the room, his googles emitting a red flash while leaving a small crack on it. Road Warrior glared at him while Junk Gardna placed his hands on his temple, whenever Junk Warrior talked about a 'threat' a headache came to him, and this wasn't the exception. Junk Destroyer, who's temper started to get on edge at Junk Warrior accusation shouted.

" _And how do we know that they are actually dangerous? Have you stopped to think that they just stood to talk, TO TALK! If they really wanted to attack us then they would have already done it, but instead of that, they come all the way here to gain our trust, I don't know what they want, but if we could become allies-_

" _ALLIES? Are we talking about the same monsters? There is only one dragon that we can trust and he is in the possession of that blonde traitor, and you say that we should trust two dragon monster that appear as if nothing in the middle of our camouflaged camp, sure, the best idea you could think of"_

Junk Warrior was not the only one who had a natural distrust for the dragons as Junk Berserker shared his feelings, in fact, he was the last one to lower his battle stance, and only because every other monster he knew was doing the same. Junk Destroyer glared at him, with Road Warrior finally talking after the little scene.

" _We should give them the benefit of the doubt, after all, their master gave Yusei the benefit to him"_

Those were the words of Road Warrior who just seated after giving his opinion, with Junk Destroyer smiling at his colleague, while Junk Berserker planting his giant axe on the ground in defeat, while Junk Warrior took his seat silently.

The room was bathed in silence until they heard the door to the underground basement opening, first coming the head-like mouths of the purple dragon, followed by the long-fanged dragon with his purple orbs orbiting around him. Everyone on the room had their eyes fixed on them, Junk Warrior just stood without saying anything until those two were accommodated. Road warrior, who acted as the moderator, started the discussion.

" _Now that we are all here, it's time to start this… meeting, first of all, I would like to know the name of the present dragon-type monsters"_

Road warrior say as politely possible, he was the only monster in the camp that knew how a meeting should be taken care of, and as much as he hates it, he was always the moderator in all the meetings, some even called him the 'voice of reason'

Both dragons looked at each other for a moment until the black one took a step ahead and said his name.

" _Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon"_

Everyone present on the room, save for Starve Venom, looked at him for a brief period, wondering what the Xyz came from, maybe a new archetype they didn't know? They regained their focus at the matter at hand when the purple dragon cleared his throat.

" _Starve Venom Fusion Dragon"_

Again, everyone had their eyes on the now known Starve Venom, some with a curios stare while others had a penetrating glare, the name pretty much didn't help the situation they were in. Road Warrior cleared his throat to gain the attention of everyone in the room.

" _Pleased to make your acquaintance, I am Road Warrior, the man at your left is Junk Destroyer, the one at your left is Junk Berserker, the one sitting next to me is Junk Gardna and-_

" _-and I am the moral leader of the team, Junk Warrior"_

Junk Warrior said while pointing himself with his own thumb, Berserker Laughed while Destroyed had his smirk hidden by his mask, Road Warrior stood stoically as ever.

" _Now that we presented ourselves, explain why did you come here, alone"_

Junk Warrior said as firmly as he could without actually sounding like a threat, though Dark Rebellion and Starve Venom weren't amused, instead, Starve Venom took his turn in the discussion.

" _Me and my brother were doing our scheduled patrol when we heard our user waking up, at first we took it as the usual nightmare- "_

" _And why your master would have constant nightmares? Surely with monsters as charming as you, anyone could feel safe"_

Junk Warrior said with no regret, getting a glare from Destroyer. Even though Starve had an idea of who was in those nightmares, he preferred to leave those thoughts to him and Rebellion, the last thing he wanted was to remember… him.

" _That I don't know, but as I was saying before being interrupted, we heard him go downstairs where he found your master, from that point on, you must know the rest of the story…"_

" _But we were attracted to you because we felt a weakening power, when we got close enough, we felt that some of you were getting low on energy, guessing for your injuries we deduced that you don't have a proper medic so we wanted to offer some of our energy while we healed your colleagues"_

A sigh came from Junk Gardna, finally a proper medical checkup! He wouldn't have to try to heal the rest of his comrades, it wasn't an easy task and he was not born a medic. Road Warrior was really interested in their offer, right now they needed medical attention for their colleagues, even if they were fine in Satellite, the recent hunt for Jack had proven to be more than they expected, he wanted to accept but… all of it sound very odd, not only because they offered what they needed the most, but because they arrived at the exact moment, the benefit of the doubt was a privilege very few monsters offered, but this sounded way too farfetched for him, and it didn't take long until Junk Warrior decided to plant his similar opinion.

" _What kind of fools do you take us for? Of course we wouldn't fall for such an obvious trap like that, we don't even really know if you are that tomato-haired guy's monsters, what kind of proof do you have for us to believe you?"_

Junk Warrior broke a piece of the circular desk they were in, with Berserker getting up from his chair. Gardna and Destroyer were an inch away to jump into action against his colleagues, as strange as it sounded, they actually believed those two. Road Warrior debated if he should really believe in those two.

" _It is true that we are in need of medical supplies and that most of our energy was taken after the… event that happened two days ago, but as Junk Warrior says, it's really odd that you give us this convenient offer right in this moment, why do you want to help us?"_

It was at this moment that both Dark Rebellion and Starve Venom were waiting for, and with that skater on the edge, they had to choose their words wisely.

" _Of course our help comes with a mutual benefit, you see, during the time we've been here, we noticed the lack of sentient duel monsters, and while we are pretty strong by ourselves, we'd like to have more allies with us, someone who'd we could rely on should the worst situation presented itself"_

Road Warrior heard the words of the sentient dragons in front of him, had the gods in the sky heard his wishes? Finally, some allies, someone to tag if needed, all of it was too good to be true, and that's why it was so hard for him to actually accept, it was too good to be true, Road Warrior placed his hand on his chin, this either could go good for them, or ending as a trap, if it was the latter they would have one hell of a problem, the power sensor they activated the moment they entered their makeshift headquarter showed an incredibly high energy coming from both of them, even as a team he and his comrades would have a hard time against them, on the other hand, if they really were in search of allies then it would make their time in Neo Domino a piece of cake compared to what they've been through these days. Destroyer was eager to accept the offer while Berserker started to change his idea of the monsters in front of him, Junk Warrior stood his ground against them.

" _Very well, we accept"_

Junk Warrior said aloud, making most of the monsters present, save for the Dragons, to look in shock at him, especially Junk Gardna, he knew where this was going to, and he prayed that it wouldn't end like the other times.

" _On one condition, guessing by your look and names, you don't appear to be part of an archetype, so we'd like to see one monster belonging to your 'user' so we can have an idea of how trustworthy can you really be"_

Junk Gardna looked confused, he always demanded a fight in a situation like this, and those usually ended up in him and Warrior in the infirmary, while Dark Rebellion and Starve Venom got a hard look on them, he wasn't as rash as they thought, going from the camp to their base would take at least half an hour, fifteen minutes if they choose to go at full speed, and that would take energy, not enough to affect them in any way, but that must be what the skater wanted, to test their skills, the problem was in who they could bring without looking too suspicious, they could easily convince the Performapals to help, and after telling their plan to the Magicians, even Paladin would accept that it was worth a try, but it would take too much time to gather them all up, and they had one hour left before sunrise. Junk Warrior smirked under his mask, it looked like his plan was actually working, as much as a battle sounded alluring to him, the amount of energy coming from them was enough to actually make him consider another option rather than brute force, but it actually paid off. The dragons were thinking of what to do, Dark Rebellion had an idea of how to solve this problem, but he would be questioned about it, and he was not going to lose an overlay unit for some doubtful monster. Road Warrior finally decided, and only time knew if he was going to regret his decision.

" _I'll go"_

The monsters on the room looked at the golden warrior, one monster was with the dragons, and it took just him to get Destroyer and Berserker nods of approval, the dragons were smiling on the inside, things were finally looking to be on their side. Junk Warripr was at disbelief, they really choose to follow some unknown dragons into a possible nest? By will?! This is a joke, a bad joke, he turned to Junk Gardna, hoping that at least someone was with him… it actually didn't surprise him when Gardna sided against him.

" _I… can't negate that we need help, I'll follow you, but try anything and I won't hold back"_

Starve and Rebellion smirked, allies or not, the defeated sound of that skater made them happier, more than enough for calling them wyrm.

" _You have our word"_

* * *

A new day started, the sun arises, birds chirped in joy as they bathed in the morning sun, and two teal-haired kids looked at an unconscious man resting in their couch.

Leo and Luna woke early in the morning due to the events that happened some hours ago, Leo had the idea to go to the main room to see the guy up close, while Luna followed him up, not having any time to tell him to wait.

"This guy looks more serious than Yuya, don't you think Luna?"

Leo said after he got a look at the unconscious man in front of him, analyzing his facial features, even with his eyes closed he had the feeling that the man was way more serious than Yuya, something inside of him believed that, while Luna was paying attention at a certain yellow line on the man's face.

"Leo, do you think this man can be trusted?"

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"The mark on his face"

Luna said while signaling the yellow mark that covered the left cheek of the man, she really didn't know why, but their fathers always said that, should they see a person with a yellow mark on their faces, the first thing they had o do was to call the police and get out of there as soon as possible, saying that whoever had a mark was a bad person, she never understood why they were bad, but had grown thinking like that, Leo didn't really mind though, saying that it made them look cooler.

"Oh the mark, well, we can't really know if he is a bad person or not, besides, he looks cool like that don't you think?"

Luna sighed in defeat, but then smiled a bit at his brother, she had forgotten how he always looked at the good side, not to mention that always tried to give at least one opportunity… most of the time.

"Is that Yuya's pendant?"

Luna looked at his brother, who was walking at the direction where two decks rested, one with a blue crystal on top of it, Luna wondered why would Yuya left his pendant in the middle of the room, when they met Yuya desperately looked for it and panicked for a moment, she thought that something so valuable to him would be at his side at all times, she then gasped after Leo took the pendant.

"Leo, that's not yours, put it back on the deck"

"Aw come on Luna, I just wanted to see it closer, but it looks like an ordinary pendant for me, wonder why Yuya panicked when he couldn't find it when we met"

"Ordinary or not, it's important to him so leave it where you found it"

"Ok… after I put on it"

Leo said after placing on the pendant, Luna couldn't believe that his brother really placed on Yuya's pendant without permission, he wouldn't really mind but if he had it on him all the time, must be for one reason, and to be honest, she actually wanted to hold the pendant, even if it was for a short time.

"What do you think Luna, pretty neat, huh? Or maybe I should say… Ladies and Gentleman! The next king of Neo Domino is here!"

Leo said mimicking Yuya's catchphrase, Luna giggled a bit but regained her worried face, Yuya could enter at any minute and she didn't want to know how would he react if he found Leo like this, Leo however was having quite the moment, for some reason he felt more energized, as if he could defeat the strongest duelist that challenged him, but after seeing her sister, he thought that it was enough.

"Don't worry Luna, here, I'll place it where I found it"

Luna let out a sigh, but she couldn't place fault at him for taking the pendulum, she had been curious about it too, when she took it for a brief moment a week ago, she could feel energized, as if something had given her power, even since, the health problems she had before meeting Yuya slowly disappeared, and the more she got closer to him the better she felt, even Kuribon felt a strong energy coming from it, talking of Kuribon, she got out to see the pendulum more clearly, Luna looked at Kuribon with a cute smile until she found her gaze set upon a dumbfounded Leo who appeared to be looking at… Kuribon?!

Leo was about to place the pendulum back when he saw a brown furball coming to him, he almost dropped the pendulum due to the shock, it was Kuribon! And he could see it, he even heard a faint 'Kuri' out of her.

"K-K-Kuribon?!"

Luna was mouth agape, did Leo just reacted to Kuribon? A duel spirit? Did he gained the same power she had to see duel spirits? Her answer came in a reaction as Leo placed a hand on Kuribon's forehead, moving it from side to side feeling her soft hair accompanied by a sweet 'Kuri'.

"I can't believe it…"

Luna's astonishment turned slowly into a big smile, she remembered how he always wanted to be more 'connected' with his monsters and, even if he wouldn't say it, he was a little envious of her power, but now they had something that could get them even closer. Leo was having a mixture of disbelief and excitement that was mixing up inside of him, he could finally see duel spirits! And if he could see Kuribon then that means… that means…

"I CAN FINALLY TALK TO MPHH- "

Leo's small outburst was taken care of after Luna placed her hand in his mouth, shutting him off before the man on their side could wake up, it appeared that Leo got way too excited, but her luck was not with them this time, because the man started to groan, moving erratically until his eyes started to open, he had woken up.

* * *

As the Sun raised itself, a young adult groaned. Yuya raised from his slumber, but as he planted his foot on the cold floor, a sudden headache made presence, hitting him like a truck, Yuya groaned after the pain leaved, with a sickening sensation lingering on him, he went to the bathroom to wash his face, but as he watched himself in the face the window broke alongside every other thing surrounding Yuya, leaving nothing but a black room, he had these weird dreams before, knowing who was the one responsible.

"Raging"

As the voice of Yuya echoed through the darkness, a dark fire was ignited in front of him, taking on the form of a giant dragon who looked at him, neither malice or anger could be felt from him, as usual Yuya stood with his gaze fixed on him, but unlike the other dreams, Raging actually talked.

" _I'll see you soon"_

"Huh?"

Yuya finally woke up, this time for real feeling a sudden heat inside of him, he didn't understand, why was Raging Dragon appearing in his dreams? What really happened to him? These thoughts just make his head hurts, but he was accustomed to the usual morning headache.

 _"Hey Yuya, you finally woke up"_

Yuya heard the voice of Dark Rebellion echoing through the room, followed by the voice of Starve Venom

 _"We got the information about the guy, he is not dangerous, and most of his monsters appear to be on our good side... save for that stupid skater! he even got the guts to call us Wyrm type! if we weren't on that meeting session then I would-_

Yuya got a sweatdrop after hearing the commotion that Starve was doing, but it appeared that Dark Rebellion felt the same way after he heard that 'the skater' wouldn't even last a round against him, but he got out of the conversation after hearing something.

"Is that…"

Yuya could hear from the other side of the door an ongoing conversation, the voice came from Leo, with Luna adding her voice from time to time, and a third voice who responded to them, for a moment he got confused as to who could be, until he remembered what happen during the night, Yuya had forgotten completely about the man! And he was the one who bring him to the apartment.

"To think that the twins met him first…"

Yuya giggled thinking how the man was the second stranger to get into their house, he decided to get ready to actually meet him, remembering where his pendulum and deck were he got out to the main room, finding Luna at the side of Leo, the stranger in front of them, each one of them looking at him with the twins greeting him with a smile and the stranger looking at him with a serious gaze.

"Looks like you finally woke up"

* * *

Yusei has had it rough, first the rough escape from Satellite after Trudge discovered that he was leaving, not to mention that the duel against Jack had gone completely wrong, he knew that his last attack would have defeated him, if only he had enough time to activate his set card… but that was in the past, if only he could say the same about the criminal mark that was now resting on his cheek for the rest of his life, but even if the Facility marked him for life, he had to admit that the help of the persons he met during his time in the Facility could be pretty useful, and he needed whatever help he could found, but when he was flanked by Security at night he could sworn that it was his end and would go to the Facility again, that's why he found the comfortable couch he was resting on as the last possible reality he could ever hope for, wondering, how he could end up here in the first place? When Yusei finally rose from the couch he was on he placed his sight on two teal-haired kids, whom looked at him with a surprised expression, the girl looking to be the most shocked, almost petrified while his brother got over the shock faster than her sister.

"Oh, you're awake"

The kid said while placing the pendulum back at a table with two decks, one of them must've been his, while the other was unknown, probably one of the kid's deck.

"My name is Leo, and my sister over there is Luna"

I looked at Leo as he introduced himself and his sister to him, Luna looked to be a shyer version of Leo, but as much as I hated to admit, she was looking at my criminal mark, I knew that something like this was bound to happen, but I paid no attention to her, being a child she must be scared of strangers.

"Where am I?"

I had an idea of where he was, but I decided not to say it aloud, instead, I asked the children to have a more comfortable room, Leo didn't look so affected but Luna was avoiding eye to eye contact.

"Oh right, you're in the Tops Residential Area where most of the tops live"

A cold sweat ran through me; I knew that I was in Tops from the start, but if I wasn't found by Security that means that I must still be on their watch list, so getting out of the building was a bad idea, thing is that staying inside was not an option either, being a Tops Residence the place must be watched by Security from inside, and they surely got reports about a 'rogue satellite' coming into Neo Domino, but what intrigued me the most was not how I managed to get into this place, but rather who took me into this apartment, I was doubtful that Leo and Luna could have carried him all the way here… could they?

"Looks like you finally woke up"

I turned to the source of the new voice, looking at a red and green haired man with a green and a red eye who was smiling at me, probably around my age, he must have been the one who carried me to the apartment, I looked at him for any reaction to my criminal mark, but he did appear to keep that smile on his face, the man walked until he was on the side of the twins, their caretaker perhaps?

"I don't know what you were doing but you were pretty beat up when I found you, you were lucky your D-wheel was intact but don't worry, I manage to hide it before Security found about it"

I was surprised but I barely showed it, not only this man had saved me from being discovered by Security, but apparently was hiding me too! Why would a Top be so worried about a 'Satellite scum' as I was being called recently? This made no sense, even by looking at him I couldn't find any sort of malice or hidden intention, just a smile, Leo looked a little excited since he heard that I had a D-wheel but Luna was still behind the two looking unsure.

"You have a D-wheel? So cool! That means that you must've had riding duels before, right? Can you show me your D-wheel? Would you mind having a duel with me…"

Leo started a launching question to question at me, and to be honest it was quite amusing how Leo acted, I almost gave a chuckle until the man calmed him down, judging by how the two kids acted with the man I thought that this man was their caretaker, maybe even their brother.

"Sorry for that, Leo tends to do that, I'm Sakaki Yuya by the way"

Yuya introduced himself to me, his ignorance toward my criminal mark was actually throwing me off, but given the situation I couldn't say that I wasn't thankful for it.

"Fudo Yusei"

Giving my name could probably end up making more problems than they could solve, I was still unsure about why Yuya helped me but I was glad that he did, I got up from the couch I was in and turning my head to my sides, I could see that my deck rested on a small table beside me near another deck who had the same pendulum Leo had resting on top of it, Yuya looked at me and then at the deck, until he finally walked to them, taking the pendulum and placing on it.

"I wasn't able to retrieve your duel disk, but I manage to get your deck out of it, just in case, you never know when it could prove useful"

Shortly after Yuya said that he retrieved his deck from the table, I smiled a little at it, after all, I designed my duel disk so only I could retrieve it, and if someone had the thought of stealing it then his duel disk would block until he placed a special 'code' by tapping on the buttons of the disk.

"It's alright, you wouldn't be able to retrieve it anyway"

Yuya just gave a laugh at my comment, saying that he knew that by know, he then excused himself, saying that he had something to take care of, I didn't ask and the twins let him go, shortly after that my eyes got focus on a figurine not too far from his place, he made an effort to not show his feelings, otherwise he would be frowned, the figurine was that of Jack Atlas summoning his Red Demon's Dragon, or as he used to call him, friend.

"Oh so you're an admirer too? Don't you think that Jack Atlas is one of best duelist you've ever seen?"

Leo apparently was a fanboy of Jack, and I couldn't say that Jack was a bad duelist, I had yet to defeat him officially, almost achieving it on that night the Crimson Dragon interfered, but every time I remembered Jack a frown appeared on my face, still remembering the betray he made to me and the guys back at Satellite, deep inside he was still a friend but the pain he felt that fateful day, not to mention the fear he felt thinking on what could have happened to Rally if he wasn't fast enough, to top it off he had lost his most precious card, his Stardust Dragon, his Ace monster, the very own card he's had since he was a kid.

" _So this is how Kiryu felt"_

I was out of thought when I heard Leo talking to me, he looked really excited.

"Yusei, are you aspiring to defeat Jack?"

A small smile was present on my lips after looking at Leo, that same glitter in the eyes mixed with his attitude, it reminded him of Rally, not to mention the energy they had that was complemented with their personality.

"You could say so"

"So cool! And if what Yuya says is right then you have a Duel Runner to go against him, only thing left you'd need is an invitation to the Fortune Cup, the same Luna and I have"

I have heard about the Fortune Cup from some of the inmates in The Facility, Leo and Luna must be really skilled if they got into a tournament like this, I turned at Luna who was blushing in embarrassment.

"W-well, me and Leo are really good- "

"Don't be shy Luna, I've seen you take on 'professional duelist' before and won without problems"

She really was that powerful? No wonder she got an invitation to the Fortune Cup, I looked at her and all I could see was an even bigger blush.

"You shouldn't be ashamed, if your skills are on that level then you should be proud of yourself"

She smiled a little at my words, good to see that at least she wasn't scared of me anymore.

"You know, I could prove you that I deserved my invitation, if you accept to have a duel with me"

I thought about it, it's true that I couldn't leave in plain day, even more when Security could be going for him, and the more he looked at Leo the more I was reminded of Rally, I smiled a little at his offer.

"Of course, but I need my Duel Disk first"

Leo looked really excited while Luna looked interested, probably wanting to see the duel herself, now he just needed to go with Yuya, he should know where his Duel Runner is at.

* * *

"Over here"

I followed Yuya all the way to the lower part of the Residential Area, he apparently placed my Duel Runner in an underground parking lot near his own to prevent any suspicious look from Security, we passed through some Security members on the way but he manages to shook them off, good thing I don't have to 'make my way' just for a Duel Disk.

"Leo is really excited to have a duel with you, reminds me when I met him"

Yuya chuckled at his own comment, but that made me think, he said that he met the twin.

"So you are their caretaker?"

"Huh? Oh no, I'm just their friend"

Silence flooded the area as Yuya and me walked to the parking lot, those two didn't acted as if he was just an occasional friend, maybe I was overthinking all of this.

"But I've noticed it, Leo and Luna don't look at me as just a friend, their fathers are always on business trips, so I guess that I become some sort of brother figure they could look into"

I listened closely to Yuya's words, they must've been pretty lonely until Yuya arrived, even in Satellite I had my friends with me and Martha to look for me, but grow without a figure to look upon must be hard.

"How did you meet Leo and Luna?"

Curiosity took the best of me as I asked how they meet, but when I looked at him he appeared to get in thought, I don't know why I asked in the first place, it was as if something made me.

"You could say they walked onto me"

A vague answer, if Yuya didn't wanted to tell then that was fine, I have things that I wouldn't share so easily, and if their meeting is something that he couldn't say just like that then I could understand that.

As we walked through the parking lot I could finally get my sight on my Duel Runner who was near another crimson Duel Runner, I walked into my own and placed the button code to detach it from the Duel Runner.

"Impressive Duel Runner, how did you get it?"

"I build it"

I simply said as I saw the shocked expression on his face.

"Wow, it must've been hard for you to build it from a scratch"

"It was, but that didn't stop me though, I keep going until I finally manage to create a Duel Runner for myself, but if it wasn't for my friends then I would've never manage to build it"

Whenever I looked at my Duel Runner the memories that I made with Rally and the guys back at Satellite appeared on my mind, this Duel Runner was proof of the bonds that we had.

"This Duel Runner must be very important for you"

Yuya said while looking at it.

"We should get going, Leo must be impatient to have the duel"

I said while turning around, I got to say that Yuya was actually a nice guy, but I still had my doubts about why he helped me, nonetheless, I could trust him for the moment.

* * *

It was nighttime as the moon presented itself with a beautiful glow, every person on the Tops Residential Area found itself asleep… save for one person.

Yusei was making the last modification to the twin's duel disk, his duel against Leo was actually one-sided, for a moment he actually thought that Leo had him, but with the right combination of cards he managed to defeat him, he could hear Leo say something on the lines of 'not again', but recovered quickly and come to say that it was a good duel with Luna tailing on him, she apparently had lost most of her shyness around him and actually talked to him.

When Yusei had finally finished with the duel disk he prepared to leave without leaving a single trace… until a voice stopped him on tracks.

"Leaving already?"

It was the voice of Yuya, who had a tired look on his eyes.

"I should leave, there is no need to trouble you three anymore"

Yusei looked at Yuya, who got a comprehensive look knowing that it was necessary for Yusei to leave before Security knew that he was on the Tops Area, Yusei thanked Yuya for letting him stay for the day, but before he could say any other word, Yuya finally spoke.

"You're from Satellite aren't you?"

Yusei steeled his gaze on the man in front of him, he should've known about that due to their conversation they had in the parking lot.

"Don't worry, I don't really care if you're a Satellite or not, actually, you're better than other tops I met.

Yusei smirked as he relaxed his gaze, he had that impression of him since the moment he met him, but regained his serious look again after a short moment.

"I am"

After Yusei answered his question silence followed for a full minute until Yuya decided to break it for the second time

"When I found you on your Duel Runner, I got a look at the screen on it… you were on a riding duel against a Security officer"

Yusei still had his serious expression but was actually surprised that even if he knew about this, let him stay for the day.

"The reason of why I hide you from security was because of your criminal mark actually"

This time Yusei couldn't hide his shock, of all explanation possible that was the least expected.

"I've heard that some persons who got their criminal mark don't really deserve it, I wasn't very sure what to think of this at first, but after my time no Neo Domino I could see that those rumors were actually right, I even have some friends who have one of them, but when I saw you unconscious on your Duel Runner, I choose to give you the benefit of the doubt, and if I have a say in the matter then I think that I choose right"

Yusei stared at Yuya with an amused expression but then placed on a small smile, glad that there were persons that knew that a criminal mark didn't mean that it was a criminal itself.

"But if you found yourself against Security again then…"

Yusei looked at him, Yuya lead his hand onto his pocket, taking a card that he had on him.

"This card may be useful"

Yuya said while offering Yusei a card, he took it and looked at it, a trap card that could really be useful, Yusei thought for a second before opening his deck box and taking another card.

"If that's the case then take this, Leo mentioned something about your lack of speed spells"

Yuya took the card from Yusei, looking at it he could see that it was a normal speed spell. After both of them placed the cards on their pocket, Yusei thanked him for the card, with Yuya doing the same. Yusei turned around to leave before losing more time, with Yuya reminding him of something Leo said after their duel.

"Don't forget about our duel, Yusei"

Leo had expressed his idea of Yuya dueling Yusei to see who was strongest from the two, but they couldn't manage to do it due to some of the Tops getting in the pool area. Yusei smirked at his words.

"Whenever you want, Yuya"

Yusei finally leaved the apartment with a smirk still present on him.

* * *

 **And another chapter is ready my friends, and this chapter has what you were so eager to see, the meeting of Yuya and Yusei has finally been released! Now that I finally released this chapter I can clarify something, and that is that I don't have a proper schedule, with College taking time from my agenda I can't actually be writing all the time, but that doesn't mean that I'm leaving so be patient, don't forget to fav, follow and even better, leave a review. Until next time, Pilot out!**


	12. The first step

**Hey guys, Pilot here updating after a ong time, things were hard this month but I finally managed to find time to continue so, with no further excuses, I present you the new chapter.**

* * *

A new day presented itself on the city of Neo Domino as the Sun arise on the morning sky, but one person inside the Tops Residential Area was not in the mood to admire the beautiful morning.

Leo was currently on the living room with his Power Tool Dragon on the table in front of him looking at it with a defeated face due to the inability to have an actual conversation with him.

"Why is it so hard to talk with Power Tool?"

The moment he saw Kuribon with his own eyes and actually touched her, Leo thought that the possibility to actually talk to his own Ace could become a reality, he was so distracted with Yusei's arrival that he didn't even tried to talk to him yesterday, but it appeared that it was a useless task to keep going because his most appreciated monster wasn't cooperating.

"Leo? What are you doing?"

Leo turned to his side to see the face of Luna, who had a look of confusion on her face.

"Luna? Oh well… you see…"

"Are you trying to talk with Power Tool Dragon?"

Leo gave a sigh of defeat after her sister read him like a book.

"Yeah, I even woke up early to try to talk with Power Tool but every time that I try nothing happen, even holding the card close to my ear was useless"

Leo said after giving an exasperated sigh for not understanding why Power Tool wouldn't talk to him while Luna giggled a little at his brother's predicament, she was glad that his brother was starting to see duel monsters, but that didn't mean that he was going to be able to dominate this ability right off the bat… or at least that's what she thought, one thing she did noticed was the lack of a certain black-haired man with a criminal mark.

"Leo, where is Yusei?"

Leo forgot his problem and looked across the room.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't seen Yusei at all"

Leo and Luna about Yusei's location until Luna remembered the criminal mark that was placed on his cheek.

"He must've already left"

Luna said aloud getting Leo's attention who actually thought that it was possible due to the lack of Security during the night, which was ironic to say the least, one would thing that Security would be patrolling during the night as much as during the day.

"Aww, I wanted to have a rematch against him, I bet I could defeat him this time"

Luna wondered if what was Leo saying was true, after all, he barely put a dent on Yusei's life but she pushed those thoughts out of her mind after looking at two duel disk placed on the kitchen's table, Luna walked with Leo close behind, curious as to why Luna walked to the kitchen until he saw what attracted Luna.

"Our duel disk? What are they doing here?"

Leo wondered why their duel disk would be on the kitchen because he placed it in middle of the living room while Luna took hers, she was curious as to why it felt different until she placed it on her left arm.

"It's not falling off"

Leo took his and did as Luna getting the same result.

"You're right, and it feels lighter"

Leo said while admiring the modified duel disk thinking that it was way better than before while Luna wondered how their duel disk changed in just one night but she forgot about that once she heard the door of the guest room being opened.

Yuya had just woken form his slumber after his 'night meeting' with Yusei which, if his calculations were correct, happened a few hours ago, and his tired eyes showed his lack of sleep.

"Hey Yuya look at this"

Leo said with excitement visible in his eyes while Yuya rubbed his, when he was fully awoken he looked at the now modified duel disk that was now fitting the arm of Leo, the same one Yusei was working on last night.

"So you already find the little gift from Yusei? That was fast if I must say"

Yuya said with his trademark smile while the twins gasped at this.

"So Yusei did this? Incredible!"

Leo said while admiring his now fitting duel disk while Luna looked at hers with curiosity.

"Yusei really did this?"

"Yeah, he must have noticed the bigger size of your duel disk"

Yuya said while inspecting both of the modified duel disk, how Yusei managed to make them smaller was beyond his comprehension, principally for the age gap between his usual duel disk and the current version in this timeline, but he was not going to question an excellent work done in such a short time.

"Man I can't wait to use this already"

Leo said activating his while Luna placed hers, feeling a lighter sensation to it. Yuya could only see the two kids that he started to care about filled with joy at their modified duel disk, that only made him think of Yusei, being from Satellite is hard enough and he had the guts to actually travel to city, but why? He didn't want to mess with his past as he barely knew him but the question persisted, Yuya decided to think of it on other time, for now he had work to do.

"Hey guys, remember when you said that you wanted me to teach you?"

* * *

" _I can't believe you actually offered to be their teacher… I'm impressed"_

The voice of Dark Rebellion could be heard with a proud tone through the underground parking lot.

" _And the face of Leo was priceless, thinking that you were going to teach him something about duel monsters just to get some math operation from your back"_

Clear wing followed with her own comment getting a laugh from Dark Rebellion while Yuya chuckled a bit.

"I just thought that it would be a good opportunity for them, especially for Luna who can't actually go to school due to her condition"

" _She looked quite focused, as if it was the most interesting lesson in the world…"_

Yuya and the two dragons continued their little chat until he arrived to his Duel Runner. With his helmet on hand, Yuya looked for the keys through his pocket and placed them on the ignition, getting a loud sound that echoed through the parking lot.

" _Not bad… but that doesn't take the generic design out of it"_

Clear Wing still had some disgust for the Duel Runner, something that Yuya couldn't quite understand yet, he had to admit that it was blandly generic compared to Jack, Crow or Yusei's Duel Runner but it was functional.

"Give it a try Clear, you could end up eating your words"

" _I'll believe that when I see it"_

Her words stopped once he saw his new partner all set to go away from Tops, but as he was about to accelerate she heard another voice belonging to a small girl, one voice that belonged to a monster that has the heart of most of the monsters from his new partner, a monster whom Starve Venom deemed as… annoying.

" _Where are we going?"_

Yuya turned to the only monster so far that could materialize in front of him in full form, Tuning Magician appeared in all her glory just in front of Yuya with a smile drawn on her face, just like always.

"Well, I was planning to go to the nearest card shop due to my shortage in Speed Spells and then…"

Clear Wing was hearing the conversation but wasn't actually focused on his partner's words but rather at the dreamy look the little tuner had, Tuning Magician didn't know that every monster could see that she had feelings for Yuya, she had heard some stories of monsters who had an 'affection' for their users but this was the first time she had seen it, poor delusional thing.

"It's time to leave, don't want to lose more time looking like a maniac"

The last thing that could be heard through the parking lot was the engine of a Duel Runner fading into the distance.

* * *

Yuya drove through the street with relative calm, not having any sort of rush to reach the card shop, he still had some of the money the twins gave him on his second day through Neo Domino, but he didn't know if it could be enough for the cards he needed, last time he knew he could just buy any pack with Duel Points but, even if he could pay with Duel Points, he couldn't just get his duel disk and pay for it, after all, it would be way too easy.

Yuya sighed and stopped near the park, he needed to stretch his legs to relax a bit.

" _Why are we stopping?"_

Tuning Magician appeared next to Yuya who was stretching his limbs, he looked at her after he was finished.

"I'm walking to the card shop, should be across the park"

Yuya said while Tuning pouted, she liked the feeling of the wind going through her hair.

Yuya walked through the park while thinking about the riding duel rules, he wouldn't have a problem with any of his old cards, and acquiring speed spells could be done at any moment but the thing is, what was he going to do after he switched back to his pendulum deck? He hadn't given that much of a thought about the matter but with the Fortune Cup being tomorrow he had to think on what cards he would use.

" _Maybe I can add one or two pendulum monsters"_

Sure he could add one or more pendulum monsters that could be useful like Whim Witch or Trump Girl, those two could level his odds in his favor especially the latter, but Nobledragon Magician was also a really good card to consider, she could make a fast level 7 synchro, not to mention that she also triggered the first effect of Enlightenment Paladin, his first synchro monster.

" _I should use Enlightenment now that I think of it"_

If his memory didn't fail the few time he used Enlightenment was against Jack, and after that he used him against Zarc as a last resort to get the dragons back, but overall he almost never used him, but now that he was in the moment synchro summon was at top peak and he had his wings restrained at the moment, monsters like him could really come in handy, he stopped his thoughts once he heard two familiar voice behind him, two voices that ruined Tuning's mood almost instantly.

"Hey Yuya"

Yuya turned around to see both Tera and Mika walking into his direction, both of them in their casual attire, he had to admit that they both looked attractive on them, he would've blushed if it wasn't for the fact that he has seen them numerous times before.

"Didn't expect you here"

Both girls stopped in front of him with the usual smile, Yuya was wondering what were they doing at the park, those two usually hang around in the house, and with the time he has passed with both of them he already knew that those two weren't the type to be in the park most of the time.

"Oh you know, just passing by to enjoy the view, after all it's a pretty day to be inside the house"

Tera said with a playful voice as she got closer to Yuya, way closer than Tuning would want to.

"We were actually searching for you"

Mika admitted after looking at the scene playing in front of her while Yuya smiled at both of them, even if he had gotten quite the relation with the twins, he had to admit that Tera and Mika were a different case, even if they teased him quite frequently he could feel that those two were growing on him, Yuya chuckled and then looked at the girls.

"Well you found me so, what do you need?"

"We wanted to tell you the good news"

Yuya stood with his ears open wanting to know what was so important that they went all the way to the park, they looked quite excited and he wanted to know why, looking at him with a small smile both Tera and Mika showed an envelope with a familiar seal, Yuya's shock was evident and made both of them giggle.

"Don't be so surprised Yuya after all you are looking at the dueling beauties of Neo Domino"

They both laughed while Yuya slowly got out of his shock and slowly joined into the laugh, he never thought that they could get into the Fortune Cup, but he wanted to know how they manage to get into the Fortune Cup in the first place.

"It's impressive but, how did you even got inside of the Fortune Cup?"

"Pretty easy actually, we are representing the school of Neo Domino as the highest ranking duelist, the school made a small tournament to see who would go and represent us. Normally they would send just one student but Tera and me kind of…tied in the end"

Mika explained how is that they manage to get inside of the tournament, he wasn't aware that the Neo Domino school would send someone to participate.

"That's incredible girls, I would've loved to see those duels"

"It's a shame that those places are not deserved"

An arrogant voice was heard behind Yuya while the girls sighed full knowing who that voice belonged to. Yuya turned to the source of the voice and found himself with a group of three boys, one with short black hair, the other with a brown ponytail and the third who was in the middle with long silver hair, all of them with an arrogant smirk on their faces.

"Matsuda Hiroto"

The man now identified as Hiroto laughed after looking at the annoyed Tera while Mika stood her ground, it was pretty evident that none of them liked each other and by Hiroto's comment he may have been eliminated by one of the girls.

"Guys, do you know each other?"

"Unfortunately yes, Yuya this is Matsuda Hiroto one of Neo Domino top ranking duelist that could've made his way into the Fortune cup, or it was until Mika showed him how a real duelist fight"

Hiroto scowled at her words still angered by his loss, he was aware that those two were one of the best duelist in the academy, but he was confident on his latent abilities that they were just a bluff, he didn't really expect to be disqualified at the semifinals of the academy tournament, Hiroto would be enraged if it wasn't for the fact that he still had an ace under the sleeve.

"Oh don't worry, after all why would I be angered by a duel that was won unfairly?"

Yuya was confused at this, what does Hiroto means by unfair? He was getting curious as to what was happening but a sigh coming from his two female friends.

"Really? And how is that winning using ritual monsters is considered cheating?"

"You know, using a bunch of spells with someone who is clearly superior in a riding duel"

Both Tera and Mika gave an exasperated sigh after hearing this, Hiroto has really been a pains ever since Mika defeated him, Yuya on the other hand just stood on his place looking at the scene.

"If you really are good then duel me, oh that's right you don't have a Duel Runner, and even if you had those pesky spells of yours would just end up dealing you damage instead of helping you"

Hiroto laughed at her with his henchman following suit while Mika's temper started to break.

"At least I can win a duel without giving such a sorry excuse!"

Mika was a person that could be considered as tolerant, but when someone insulted her dueling, it was not only an insult to her, it was an insult to the person she looked at, a person that was no with her anymore, but that didn't stop Hiroto, Tera was about to put a stop to this until she heard the voice of her male friend.

"That's enough"

Hiroto and his companions turned to the source of the voice, they were so focused in the girls that they didn't noticed the dichromatic duelist that was on their side.

Yuya had heard enough and he stepped into the conversation, he was not going to let anyone talk to his friends like this.

"Who are you?"

Yuya was about to answer when Hiroto cut him off.

"You know? I don't care, just leave this doesn't concern you"

"I think it does because you are insulting my friend"

Hiroto looked at the guy in front of him, who was this guy to mess in his affairs? For some reason the guy was kind of familiar, almost as if he had seen him somewhere but he didn't care, he just wanted to show to this broad who was the best, and if he wanted to defend her then…

"If you want to defend her so badly then do it properly, one duel and I'll take my words back, but not just one duel, a riding duel"

Hiroto smirked after challenging the tomato boy thinking that he was going to become nervous or something but he scowled after looking at the smile that was planted on his face.

"Good for me"

Hiroto scowled at his apparent determination.

"Very well, come with me, I know of a place where we can have our little duel"

* * *

Yuya arrived at the place Hiroto mentioned, it appeared to be an industrial zone that was isolated, close to the daimon area but not enough to actually be next to it. Yuya took his googles off while he waited for Hiroto to appear, but given that he had to go for his Duel Runner and that the girls got distanced a while ago Yuya took the opportunity to organize his deck while no one was seeing.

"I should've gone ot the card shop sooner"

" _We can do this"_

Odd-Eyes appeared next to Yuya in full form for the first time since he started to talk with him.

" _Even with the limit AND the lack of spells we can make it"_

"…You're right, and I have an idea on how we can make it"

" _I'd love to know how you plan on it"_

Now it was the turn of Clear Wing to appear in all her glory with her arms crossed.

"It's easy, I'll just place some pendulum monsters on my deck that can pass unnoticed until I can get some speed spells"

Odd-Eyes chuckled at his words while Clear Wing rubbed her chin with the tip of her claw, even though it was a logic movement to replace spell with helpful monsters she wasn't convinced by it.

" _Maybe…"_

Clear Wing snapped her two claws getting the attention of the pendulum user and his dragon.

" _Yuya I have a better idea, bring some spells you'd consider helpful and the card that Yusei guy gave you"_

Yuya thought about it and, after thinking it for a moment, he took some spells and the card he traded with Yusei.

"What are you planning"

Yuya wondered about the plan of Clear Wing when a sudden flash appeared in the spells that he took, some seconds later the flash disappeared and in Yuya's hand appeared the same spells with a subtle difference, all of them were Speed Spells.

" _Hope you like them, using the Spell you got yesterday I could replicate these same functions into your normal spells"_

Clear Wing explained while placing her claws on her hip with a look of pride.

" _Pretty clever Wing"_

"Wow, this is incredible, but doesn't this drain your energy?"

" _I have energy to spare, don't worry"_

Yuya smiled after looking at the job of Clear Wing, not wasting any time he shuffled the now Speed Spells into his deck while replacing the normal Spells with some Pendulum monsters and some Traps, now he was all set for the duel, and it appeared that destiny knew about it because the next thing he could see was a familiar convertible following a black/purple Duel Runner with a person wearing a purple helmet.

"Ready to lose tomato boy?"

Those were the words of Hiroto who took his helmet off to show that same smirk he had on the park, soon the girls got closer at the duo.

"We'll start the duel right here, the first to take the curve at the gas canisters will have the first turn, after that the road to follow is pretty obvious, hope you are in for the challenge"

Hiroto explained vaguely but confident, it was obvious that he's had duels here multiple times, Yuya was starting to doubt about the duel but he shrugs that idea off his head, he was doing this for his friends and to get a hold on this era's Riding Duels, he couldn't back off now.

"When you are ready we'll start"

Hiroto said while placing his helmet back and driving to the 'starting line'. Yuya placed hjs googles and drove next to him with both Tera and Mika watching them both.

"Are you ready tomato boy?"

"Always"

The place was filled with the rev up of their bikes as the only sound, bringing an impact on the place until they both shouted at the same time.

"Riding duel, **ACCELERATION** "

 **Hiroto: 4000 – 5 SPC 0**

 **Yuya: 4000 – 5 SPC 0**

Both Yuya and Hiroto went full speed to take the first curve, but given that Hiroto was more experienced than Yuya he managed to surpass him and take the first turn.

"Sorry for you tomato boy, draw"

 **Hiroto – 6**

"I summon Bone Crusher in attack mode"

A skeleton wielding a bone hammer followed by a skeletal dog appeared on the field, both of them with a menacing aura.

 **Bone Crusher: (1600/200)**

"I set two cards and end my turn"

 **Hiroto – 3**

"I draw"

 **Yuya – 6 SPC: 1**

 **Hiroto – 3 SPC:1**

A small beep was made and a one appeared next to the Speed Counters that Yuya had available.

" _So this is how speed counters are applied, for each standby phase I gain a counter, guess I'll have to wait for them"_

"I summon Performapal Handsome Liger in attack position"

A man clad in a samurai outfit with black hair appeared on the field, looking at the zombie on the other side defiantly.

 **Performapal Handsome Liger: (1800/400)**

"Battle, Handsome Liger attack Bone Crusher!"

Handsome Liger ran to the skeleton and destroyed it in a single clean swipe, not leaving any trace on the field.

 **Hiroto: 3800**

"I activate Handsome Liger's effect, when this card destroys an opponent monster by battle and sends it to the graveyard I can add a level 5 monster from my deck to my hand, and the monster I choose is Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Liger's sword flashed in a white light as a card ejected from Yuya's deck, he took it and added it to his hand

"I set one card and end my turn"

 **Yuya – 5**

The girls smiled thinking that Yuya had the advantage, taking one of his aces in the first turn now all he had to do was to summon him and leave Hiroto on the dust, Hiroto on the other hand.

"If that is all you have then you have no chance, draw!"

 **Hiroto – 4 SPC: 2**

 **Yuya – 5 SPC:2**

Due to Hiroto's helmet and distance no one could see the smirk that was present after his draw.

"Let me show you how a riding duelist make his way, I normal summon Zombie Master in attack position, then I'll use his effect, by discarding one monster card I can target 1 level 4 or lower zombie monster from my grave and special summon it, come back from the grave Bone Crusher!"

A palid man with ragged clothes appeared on the field showing a mad face to Liger, and as soon as he appeared a purple lightning appeared from his hands and went to the floor beneath him, it apparently revived the monster that Liger destroyed on the last turn.

 **Zombie master: (1800/0)**

 **Bone Crusher: (1600/200)**

"But that's not all, I activate the effect of Bone Crusher, when he is special summoned by a zombie-type monster I can target one spell/trap that my opponent controls and destroy it!"

Bone Crusher made his way past Liger and swung his mace at the facedown card, destroying it.

"The downside to this is that Bone Crusher will be destroyed on my end phase, but don't think too much of it because he is not staying too long"

Yuya wondered what Hiroto meant by that until a single thought crossed his mind, he was playing a zombie deck, and they had multiple effects that were activated from the grave, and if his suspicious were correct then that only means one thing.

"I activate the effect of Plaguespreader Zombie from my grave, by placing a card on the top of my deck I can special summon this card from my grave, but it will be banished when it leaves the field, come from the grave my tuner monster!"

Yuya tensed a bit after hearing the type of monster that he was going to summon. A purple monster that appeared to be rooting with the aprt of multiple animals and tattered clothes appeared on the field.

 **Plaguespreader Zombie: (400/200)**

"And now prepare yourself, with the level 2 Plaguespreader Zombie and the level 4 Bone Crusher I synchro summon! Come to the field, Revived King Ha Des!

Plaguespreader Zombie converted himself into two green halos while Bone Crusher became four white stars that crossed through the halos, and as a beam of light passed through them a monster appeared with a torn tunic and a giant skull right in the middle of his chest, the only thing remaining from the original Ha Des was the green face and the purple top from whom souls appeared to be emanating.

 **Revived King Ha Des: (2450/0)**

"Battle, Revived King Ha Des destroy that puny samurai"

Ha Des made a purple ball of energy and launched it at Handsome Liger who was unable to defend himself and got destroyed

 **Yuya: 3350**

"And now Zombie Master attack him directly"

Zombie Master launched the same purple beam at Yuya inflicting a good chunk of damage.

"Tch"

 **Yuya: 1550 SCP: 0**

"You should know this by now, but for every 1000 points that you lose a speed counter is taken out of the count, hope you like the lousy number, I end my turn"

 **Hiroto – 1**

Yuya was in problems, now that he was out of Speed Counters he needed to draw something good.

"I draw"

 **Yuya – 6 SPC: 1**

 **Hiroto – 1 SPC:3**

Yuya looked at the card he just drawn, and looking at it he smiled, it was his turn to turn the tides.

"I'm impressed Hiroto, you have showed to me that you are a good duelist, but now, it's my turn to show you what I can do, I normal summon Performapal Sword Fish"

A blue barracuda-like fish appeared on the field with purple glasses and a sharp pompadour resembling a blade with the iconic bow that accompanied most of the Performapal.

 **Performapal Sword Fish: (600/600)**

"And what is an ugly fish going to show me?"

"You'll see, now I activate his effect, when this card is summoned, every monster my opponent controls has his ATK and DEF cut by 600 points"

They both made a sharp turn to the right when multiple copies of Sword Fish were launched at Hiroto's monsters, weakening them.

 **Revived King Ha Des: (1850/0)**

 **Zombie Master: (1200/0)**

"And now I'll present you the first performer of our act! I tribute Sword Fish to special summon the level 7 Performapal Sleight Hand Magician from my hand, show yourself!"

Sword Fish became a blue orb that morphed into an adult form resembling a male with a red performer outfit and a red gracious hat, with half of his body resembling Yuya's pendulum.

 **Performapal Sleight Hand Magician: (2500/2000)**

"I activate Sleight Hand's effect, by discarding a card I can target one card that my opponent controls and destroy it, and I choose your Revived King Ha Des!

Sleight Hand's staff was engulfed in a golden energy that struck Ha Des in the middle of the skull, destroying him and leaving nothing but rubbles of a former king.

"Battle, Sleight Hand attack Zombie Master"

The same golden energy was changed into an azure beam that was charged from the pendulum-like bottom that he had, that same beam met the purple lightning of Zombie Master but the lightning was not powerful enough and it was finally pushed back to Zombie Master, destroying him completely.

 **Hiroto: 2500 SPC: 2**

"I set two cards and end my turn"

Yuya and Hiroto made another sharp turn near some gas bombs as two cards materialized face-down on Yuya's side of the field.

 **Yuya – 3 SPC: 0**

Hiroto was taken back by the sudden retaliate of his opponent, one turn was more than enough for him to come back, and with a few cards no less! But this was not going to stop him, the card he placed on the top of his deck was what he needed.

"I draw"

 **Hiroto – 2 SPC: 3**

 **Yuya – 3 SPC: 1**

"I activate my set Speed Spell Allure of Darkness, by removing 3 of my speed counters I can draw 2 cards, however I must banish a DARK monster from my hand, should I was unable to banish a monster then I discard my entire hand, fortunately for me the card from the top of my deck is a DARK monster"

Hiroto did as mentioned and banished one card from his hand afterward, he was content with the results after inspecting his hand.

"Your luck is running out, I activate my continuous trap card Call of the Haunted, and I'll use it to revive Zombie Master from my graveyard"

Zombie Master appeared once again from a grave-like tomb.

"Now I'll use the effect of Zombie Master to special summon a zombie-type monster from my grave, but don't worry I won't summon Bone Crusher this time, it's actually something worse, I choose to summon the Heavy Knight of the Flame that I send as the cost!"

A purple set of lightning was sent to the ground as it appeared to resurrect a big ogre in a silver armor with half of his body being a chariot that was carried by a pale green horse who had half of his body merged into the chariot, the ogre wielded a small metallic object in his hand.

 **Heavy Knight of the Flame: (1800/200)**

"Heavy Knight is a Gemini card and is treated as a normal monster while face up, however I normal summon it so it gains a new effect"

As soon as he normal summoned him the small object revealed itself as a flame sword that ignited in a second with the back of the ogre doing the same, giving him a more threatening appearance.

"And guess what, the effect of Heavy Knight is that every time it battles with a special summoned monster I can banish it at the start of the damage step! Battle, Heavy Knight attack Performapal Sleigh Hand Magician!"

The chariot morphed ogre set his sight on the magician in front of him and swung his sword at the spellcaster, even if Sleight Hand had a superior attack he was struck by the flame effect of Heavy Knight.

"Now that the big problem is out of the way I can attack you once again with Zombie Master, go!"

Another volley of lightning was launched at Yuya, the girls gasped knowing that if the attack struck it was over, but Yuya chuckled, this is what he was expecting.

"Continuous Trap Card Performapal Pinch Helper, once per turn I can negate a direct attack, besides, I can special summon one Performapal monster from my deck with his effects negated, appear Performapal Thunderhino!"

The purple lightning was cut off before it could strike Yuya and it was redirected to the horn of a white rhinoceros that had a top hat, a bowtie and an arc with five circular symbols on it. Hiroto was surprised after looking at the attack that should have defeated his opponent, he scowled under his helmet.

"I set one card and end my turn"

 **Hiroto – 1 SPC: 0**

"I draw"

 **Yuya – 4 SPC: 2**

 **Hiroto – 1 SPC:1**

Yuya smiled after looking at the card in his hand, Hiroto was proving to be a challenge, but his pride as a duelist was starting to kick in, the duel that was supposed to be a test proved to be a real match for him, and he was enjoying it. They had to take another curve down a set of iron canister, Yuya saw that Hiroto had slowed his speed while trying to corner and took this opportunity to accelerate, finally making it past Hiroto since they started the duel.

"It's time that the main performer of the show makes his appearance, I normal summon Performapal Hip Hippo and activate his effect, during the turn this card is normal summoned I can summon one level 7 or higher monster in addition to my normal summon"

Hip Hippo materialized on the field and turned to his comrade, both of them becoming a blue sphere that fused together.

"Appear! Wondrous and beautiful dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

The blue sphere took the form of a crimson scaled dragon with a green/red eye, Odd-Eyes cried at the sky as he took his side near his partner.

 **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: (2500/2000)**

The girls could only watch in awe as the monster lookalike appeared in front of Yuya while Hiroto watched in awe at the monster in front of him,

"Battle, Odd Eyes! Attack Hiroto's Heavy Knight of the Flame, Spiral Strike Burst!"

The eyes of the dragon flashed for a second while he charged a sphere from his beak, then launched it at the chariot in a burst of energy.

"At this moment the effect of Odd-Eyes kicks in, when he battles an opponent monster all battle damage is double! Reaction Force!"

The red burst of energy got encased in a fiery burst of flames that engulfed the chariot completely, taking most of Hiroto's life points in a single sweep.

"AUGH!"

 **Hiroto: 1100 SPC: 0**

Hiroto had to slow his D-Wheel in order to keep the stability, the attack had placed him in a rough spot with a handful of life points, no Speed Counters and a reduced hand, but this placed a smile on his face, this kind of situation make him feel an excitement that was incomparable.

"I end my turn, Hiroto"

 **Yuya – 2 SPC: 2**

Yuya said while keeping a stable speed on his Duel Runner, looking at the sharp turn that they had to do he choose to go for the safe way rather than leaving Hiroto on the dust.

"You know? At first I thought that you were just a guy that was trying to impress those two girls"

Hiroto said while placing his right hand on the top of his deck.

"But now I can see that you are actually a duelist capable of fighting against my strongest monster, draw!"

 **Hiroto – 2 SPC: 1**

 **Yuya – 2 SPC: 3**

"I activate the effect of Zombie Master to special summon the Tuner Monster Pain Painter in attack mode"

The familiar purple lightning struck the ground in front of Zombie Master yet again, but this time a zombie with a big paintbrush with a purple colour appeared at the side of Hiroto.

"You better brace yourself because I'm not holding back! I tune the level 2 Pain Painter and the level 4 Zombie master to summon Doomkaiser Dragon!"

Pain Painter took the form of two green halos and proceed to get over Hiroto while Zombie Master took the form of four white stars that crossed through the green halos, the familiar white beam appeared and from it a black dragon with bone-like wings appeared on the field, a bright red gem was present in the middle of his chest while a yellow glare pierced the sky.

 **Doomkaiser Dragon: (2400/1500)**

"But that's not all, I activate the trap card Asault Mode Activated! With this card I tribute a monster from my field and special summon a '/Assault Mode' monster from my deck whose name is the same as the tribute monster."

Doomkaiser Dragon's body became encased in a bright light that blinded the non-shielded eye, but Yuya could see through his googles that the dragon was being encased in some sort of armor.

"Dragon belonging to the abyss, hear my orders and help me achieve victory with your dark law! Come forth, Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode!"

Doomkaiser Dragon appeared with a renewed form as the glowing gem from his chest became the glowing heart of the dragon, who now had a skull in the middle of his chest, with long arms made of bone and a silver armor that boasted of power.

"I activate the effect of Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode, during the turn this card is summoned I can summon any number of Zombie-Type monsters from either player's graveyard onto my field, all of them will be destroyed until my end phase and their effects are negated, but that doesn't mean they can't attack, come back from the grave Zombie Master, Revived King Ha Des, Doomkaiser Dragon and Heavy Knight of the Flame!"

Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault mode encased himself in a red aura that pierced through the earth, suddenly the mentioned mosnters appeared one following the other, every one of them wearing a mad smile after looking at the guy who had defeated all of them

 **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode: (2900/2000)**

 **Doomkaiser Dragon: (2400/1500)**

 **Revived King Ha Des: (2450/0)**

 **Zombie Master: (1800/200)**

 **Heavy Knight of the Flame: (1800/200)**

Yuya looked astonished at the monsters in front of him, if Hiroto managed to strike even a single direct attack it was all over"

"I'll admit that you fought well tomato boy, but this is the end, Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault mode attack Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon! Ultimate Abyss Breath!"

The glowing chest of Doomkaiser Dragon glowed brightly as a red and white orb was made from the mouth of the giant skull from his chest, arms at the sides of the orb and his mouth right in the middle of it, when the orb was big enough he launched it at the form of a beam against Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, when the attack hit a massive dust cloud was formed, Hiroto was about to declare an attack when he saw that his opponent suffered no damage at all.

"I activate the effect of Performapal Inflater Tapir from my hand, when a monster I control battles I can negate any battle damage that any player would have received during that battle"

Hiroto smirked at his opponent struggle of survival, he had to use a card that left him with few to no choices and that would be a problem, but he knew that after receiving the attack from any of his monsters it would be all done.

"Zombie Master attack him directly!"

It was over, this attack would've been more than enough to defeat that guy and prove his point, but Hiroto had forgotten about a continuous trap card that was present on Yuya's side of the field.

"I activate the effect of Performapal Pinch Helper, I negate the attack and the I special summon one Performapal monster from my deck, and the monster I summon is Performapal Sellshell Crab"

The purple lightning vanished in thin air as a blue crab with yellow orbs on his shell made his appearance in front of the behemoths, protecting his partner from a devastating defeat.

 **Performapal Sellshell Crab: (500/2500)**

Yuya breathed a sigh of relief after stopping what could have been an onslaught, if it wasn't for his recent decision to place some pendulum support monsters he would have to made his way to his turn, at least he was safe for now while Hiroto looked at the monster who stopped his attacks, a smile present on him as his opponent refused to lose.

"You are a worthy opponent, I would have never expected an Advanced summoner to place me in a spot like this, but I'll still have Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode on my field, and that is the barrier that you'll have to defeat, I end my turn"

 **Hiroto – 1 SPC: 1**

Yuya was speechless but then changed that with a confident smirk, this was the kind of guy that Hiroto really was, well if he wanted him to break his barrier then he was going to do so.

"I draw"

 **Yuya – 2 SPC: 4**

 **Hiroto – 1 SPC: 2**

Yuya looked at the card in his hand and smiled, it was time to end this!

"We've done well Hiroto, but the real fun has just begun! I activate the Speed Spell Angel Baton from my hand, I can only activate this card if I have two or more speed counters, I draw two cards and then I discard one from my hand, after this is done I activate my trap card Pendulum Reborn, with this card I can special summon Odd-Eyes back to my field, come back from your slumber, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

A portal appeared in front of Yuya from where Odd-Eyes materialized itself with a pendant being placed on his neck.

 **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: (2500/2000)**

"Now I activate the effect of Nobledragon Magician from my graveyard, I can target one 'Odd-Eyes' monster I control and reduce its level by three, then I can special summon this card from either my hand or the grave, come forth Nobledragon Magician!

Three spheres appeared from within Odd-Eyes and placed themselves at his side taking the form of a little girl with a small white robe and some green parts, blue energy on her forehead that looked like natural hair and a staff that floated in front of her

 **Nobledragon Magician: (700/1400)**

"And now with the level 3 Nobledragon magician and the level 5 Performapal Sellshell Crab I make a Synchro summon!"

Nobledragon Magician turned herself into three green halos that looked more complex than both Plaguespreader and Pain Painter while Sellshell Crabe turned himself into 5 stars of light, a white beam of light appeared in the middle of the halos.

"Hero's blade that sets forth unyielding light! Here and now, along with a flash, awaken! Synchro Summon! Level 8! Enlightenment Paladin!

From the light appeared a man with spiky brown hair clad in a white, black and golden armor with some red orbs on it and a yellow orb on his left knee appeared wielding dual blades that could easily intimidate anyone who looked at them, the only visible part of his body was the little skin that was shown from his mask.

 **Enlightenment Paladin: (2500/2000)**

Yuya was prepared to take the final curve but he saw that Hiroto was so distracted by Enlightenment that he barely payed attention to the road in front of him.

"Hiroto, watch out"

Hiroto barely saw the road on his front and knew that, even if he reduced his speed was going to crash into a set of metal bars, Yuya was not going to be able to reach him in time until an idea came to him, with the recent events that he had been involucred and his recent power with duel monsters he could save Hiroto, Yuya just wished that this worked.

"I activate the effect of Enlightenment Paladin, when this card is Synchro Summoned using a 'Magician' monster I can add one spell card from my grave to my hand, I add the same card you destroyed with Bone Crusher"

Enlightenment knew what Yuya was thinking and acted as fast as possible, using his blades and his knowledge in time Enlightenment Paladin engulfed the field in a blue aura making all the objects and animals to return back in time, Yuya used this in his favour to get near Hiroto before he would crash and possibly injure himself.

When the time went back to normal Yuya and Hiroto made the curve just in time before they could crash, Hiroto was confused as to what had happened but shrugged it off, remembering about the duel in course.

"Battle, Enlightenment Paladin attack Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode! Enlightened Slash!"

Hiroto was back to his senses and went awestruck at his opponent's actions, why would he attack a monster that was more powerful than his?

"During the damage step I activate the Quickplay Speed Spell Attack Force! I can only activate this card if I have 2 or more speed counters, when a monster I control attack a monster whose ATK is higher than mine, my monster gains 600 points of ATK during that battle only!"

 **Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode: (2900/2000)**

 **Enlightenment Paladin: (3100/2000)**

Hiroto was wide eyed at this, his monster was going to be destroyed, but the moment he was destroyed he could summon back Doomkaiser Dragon and gain another turn. Doomkaiser Dragon/Assault Mode sent the same red lightbeam to Enlightenment Paladin, but he slashed through it with his blade, when he reached him he swung his blades in an X formation, slashing the armor of Doomkaiser and finally destroying him.

 **Hiroto: 900 SPC: 1**

"I activate the effect of Enlightenment Paladin, when he destroys an opponent monster by battle, I can inflict damage to my opponent equal to that monster's original attack!"

Hiroto was astonished, but then smiled at his opponent, he had surpassed him fair and square and accepted his fate. Enlightenment Paladin fired a golden beam of light at Hiroto who screamed as his life points decreased to zero.

 **Hiroto: 0**

 **Yuya: 1350 – WINNER**

Yuya and Hiroto drove to where they started the race, while Hiroto stopped with no interruption, Yuya had two girls in front congratulating him.

"That was awesome! I didn't know you were this good at Riding Duels"

Tera said marveled at the duel that she just witnessed while Mika looked at him with admiration, Hiroto looked at them and actually chuckled a bit.

"Guess that I was wrong with you, tomato boy"

They all looked at him after he talked, but Yuya just smiled at him.

"You were pretty good too, you know? You almost had me there if it wasn't for my trap card"

Hiroto watched as the guy in front of him chuckled at his own comment, he really was a nice guy, way better than… him actually, not even a single insult when he had the advantage and he even saved him, even after insulting her, Hiroto took a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was going to do.

"I'm sorry"

Yet again, they all looked at Hiroto, Mika being the most surprised.

"I'm sorry for saying that you won unfairly Mika, you got me fair and square"

Hiroto said eating his pride and closing his eyes, thinking that she was going to answer with the same disrespect he had treated her before, but was surprised when he heard a giggle.

"It's ok, no harm done… but if I heard you talking trash about my deck again then- "

Tera had to cover her mouth before she could say anything inappropriate, Hiroto got a sweatdrop at their antics, but then turned at the guy who had defeated him.

"What's your name?"

Yuya looked directly into Hiroto's eyes and smiled.

"Yuya, Sakaki Yuya"

Hiroto smirked at him and then in the blink of an eye, launched a card at him, with his reflexes Yuya catched the card with his hand, and looking at it he could see that it was Assault Mode Activated.

"Take this card, not as a reward for defeating me, but as a reminder that this will not be our last duel"

Yuya's expression shifted from surprise to determined, clearly saying that he was up for the challenge.

Hiroto was about to leave the place but not before saying one last thing.

"You know Mika? You're lucky to have a boyfriend like him"

Hiroto departed leaving those words to them, Yuya blushed a bit at that while Mika's face turned as red as Yuya's hair, something that was not unnoticed by Tera.

"Hey guys why didn't you told me that you were a thing? That hurt my feelings"

Tera said playfully waiting for their reaction, Yuya just blushed a bit more while Mika couldn't even formulate a proper word, Tera burst into laughter after seeing her best friend expression, Yuya laughed nervously until he looked at the sky, he finally got a glimpse at the time and his face got a pale look, he had less than 30 minutes to reach the card shop before it closed.

"Pardon me girls but I have to leave see you on the house"

Yuya said while getting into his Duel Runner, he made a miracle on time just some minutes ago, hope he can make another.

* * *

Yuya looked at himself through the mirror, it was nighttime already and he barely made it to the card shop, he had quite a surprise when he discovered that card shops here used the same system of Duel Points that Maiami City used, with the duels that he's been having he could get a discount on the Speed Spells booster pack that was on sale, he felt more prepared for tomorrow.

"Tomorrow is the day Enlightenment"

Yuya said aloud knowing that the girls were sleep already, Enlightenment made his presence and kept a serious face that was hidden beneath his mask.

"I don't even doubt that we will find signers through the tournament, so we'll have to be prepared for anything that comes in our way"

Silence filled the bathroom due to Enlightenment silence, Yuya went to the sofa ready to sleep but was cut off by Enlightenment's voice.

" _About today Yuya, what did you really do?"_

Silence followed after that, and it wasn't because Yuya didn't wanted to answer, it was actually because he didn't know what to answer, it was just an idea that happened at the moment and he wasn't sure that it was going to work, but it happened.

"I don't know actually, during my duel with Shinji I could feel that we went back in time just a little, but all I could do was move my arms, but with Hiroto I was able to move freely for a moment, almost as if I wasn't completely tied with your rules, do you think that it has something to do with the Crimson Dragon?"

Enlightenment placed a hand under his chin, he doubted that this was the work of that god actually, as much as he hated to admit it, this had the seal of someone else, someone that was tied with Yuya and his counterparts.

" _Forget about it, you must be tired after today's duel, just sleep"_

Yuya wasn't really convinced at Enlightenment words but he complied, he was exhausted after having his first Riding Duel in this dimension and the whole time manipulation thing was draining him quite fast, with a 'good night' he drifted to sleep.

* * *

It was nighttime and everyone were either sleeping or in their night shifts but Enlightenment was in the time well looking desperately for the right portal, he was about to give up when he was finally able to find it, the one who looked deep inside his partner's soul, the magicians had a specific rule to never enter into this place so why was Enlightenment breaking his own rules? He wanted answers as to the recent powers that Yuya had been using, being careful to make a portal to get back Enlightenment passed through the portal.

Enlightenment could see that his partner's soul was quite normal, so why was he having a spike on his energy parameters? Enlightenment knew that it was a loss of time so he prepared to leave… until a change in the air alongside a sudden rise in the heat made him turn around, he was surprised to see that his soul was in turmoil, one side looking quite normal while the other turned a deep red with an extensive rise in heat, Enlightenment was about to investigate when a deep voice made him unsheath his blades, a crimson red dragon with silver horns, silver feet and fire wings appeared in front of him.

" _You took your time Enlightenment, Timegazer, however you want to be called"_

Enlightenment took a fight stance and prepared for the worse.

" _Welcome to Yuya's soul"_

* * *

 **And done, I finished the last chapter of the Introductory arc to finally start with the Fortune Cup arc, next time will be the first duels into the Fortune Cup, with this chapter I tested the Speed Counter mechanic (not very hard actually) and to actually make longer duels, don't forget to follow or even better, leave a review, Pilot out!**


	13. The other side

**Before you start reading this new chapter I'd like to say that I've been really busy and this last month was not the best for me or my family so I had to divert from updating for a while, but things are better now so with that away WELCOME to the next chapter of The Heterochromatic Duelist, now that I've taken enough of your time you can start with the new chapter.**

* * *

Enlightenment Paladin was a monster well respected by the Magician, admired by most of his Performapal partners and was known as the most level-headed monster Yuya had on his deck, however, there were a few selected things that could throw him out of his calm nature, and just right in front of him there was one of those things. Enlightenment tightened the grip he had on his blades, the monster in front of him was one of the few factors that managed to trigger his rage, and with reason as he was one of the things that completely triggered Yuya's awakened state.

Raging Dragon massaged his lower jaw, chuckling at the spellcaster in front of him that tried to look like a threat.

" _Such a pose could frighten even the most experienced battler, shame that such trivial thing is not going to work against me"_

Raging wondered what he should do, he had expected for Enlightenment to come sooner or later, and it happened later than he thought, but now that he appeared how he should address the monster in front of him? Raging was thinking about the best way to explain his supposed-to-be 'partner' about why he was in Yuya's soul in the first place but all the outcomes possible always lead to a battle that he was obviously going to lose, Raging actually thought that Enlightenment going against him was hilarious, especially counting the fact that he would just waste precious energy in the most dangerous place possible.

" _What are YOU doing here?"_

Raging didn't lose his cool even if the Paladin tried to look as menacing as possible, he couldn't help but laugh a bit at him, slowly and steady he took one step closer to him, Enlightenment took this as a sign of danger and channeled part of his magic into his blades, Raging looked as the Paladin clearly stated that he didn't trust him.

" _Another step and I'll shoot"_

" _Very well but hear what I have to say"_

Raging keep getting closer to Enlightenment ignoring his warning while Enlightenment slowly took some steps back, he hated to admit it but he didn't had a chance against him, it was a hollow warning due to the fact that they were right in Yuya's soul, should one attack diverted from its path and struck right into the soul's center then...

" _The less opposition you show, the faster this will end, but I assure you that I will not injure you, or if this sounds more convincing, If I wanted to kill you then I would have done it by now, but instead of that I gave my position, sounds fair isn't it?"_

Raging tried to sound as convincing as possible, but he knew that it was impossible to even try to use the same silver tongue that his soulmate had, in fact, he probably sounded like an idiot who struggled to talk to his crush. Raging looked at the still threatened Paladin that was clearly not going to lower his guard, but that was alright because Raging knew that he was not going to convince Paladin to actually hear him, but he knew who could.

Paladin didn't know what to do, he was completely sure that this monster could not be trusted, but it was a truth that he could just banish him from this world as if he never existed in the first place.

Paladin stopped on his tracks, looking behind him he could look at the endless void that was under his feet, one more steps and he would fall into a strange mixture of a good natured soul and one full of hatred and rage, Enlightenment focused his gaze on the behemoth in front of him who was close enough to actually attack him with one of his claws.

Paladin had no other option, and attacking would be foolish, especially at this proximity to the central soul.

"… _talk"_

Raging's smirk placed in doubt his own decision.

" _Wise decision, now you must be wondering what am I doing in such a place that should have consumed me by now or rather why half of our partner's soul looks so different to the other"_

Raging placed both claws on his back while walking from side to side, Enlightenment choose to remain in a defensive position.

" _Before I start I'll ask you something, how far are you willing to go for your little 'apprentice' should her life would be at risk?"_

Enlightenment was confused, why would Raging bring such a ridiculous question like that? He would have questioned him but a close look at his hand revealed the reason as to why he banned the trespassing to the soul center, his energy was being taken by the soul behind him, and the more time he passed in silence the more energy he lost, he was loosening the grip he had on his blades and his breathing slowly became harsher.

"… _She is my apprentice and I have taken care of her as if she was my daughter, how far do you think that I would go for her?"_

Enlightenment looked as Raging just gave a small chuckle at his words.

" _Exactly what I expected from you, with that in mind I hope that you understand because, you see, that red half on the soul center is actually mi- "_

Raging just looked as a yellow slash of energy passed in front of him, turning around his sight captured the appearance of an apparently tired Paladin who was starting to struggle against the draining environment.

" _WHAT DID YOU DO?"_

A heavy sigh escaped through Raging's jaw.

" _If you'd let me finish then you would know, anyway, it all started that tragic day in the fusion dimension where we failed in the only job that we as monster spirits that can actually interact with their user have, protect our own user at all cost, you see, when Yuya sacrificed himself to annihilate Zarc once and for all, not only his body was destroyed in the process, but a big part of his soul was taken away too"_

Paladin had to place his blades on the ground due to the fatigue that was coming, that attack was more than enough to leave him in a pathetic state, another attack like that and Yuya would have lost a monster from his extra deck, this ridiculous position was the only one he could endure at the moment due to the low energy that it consumed, but even in this position and with this state he could hear every word that Ragin was saying.

" _I was one of the few monsters that remained conscious after the extreme usage of energy used to destroy Zarc, there were other three with me but they vanished into their base form after their energy was taken away"_

Enlightenment's shock was completely visible to Raging, he had an idea of who was one of those monsters but what about the other two? As far as he could remember the only monsters who could endure such a strong pressure of energy was Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, but he vanished after the duel with Tenjo Kaito, if what Raging is saying is truth then that means…

" _Clear Wing and Starve Venom…"_

" _So you remember? I thought that you would forget about those two with the rest, guess that time magic has paid off, anyways, when those three returned to their base form I stood alone in that black void looking at my greatest failure, I don't know how much time had passed, I just remember a pathetic feeling of guilt and hatred to myself for letting such a thing like this happen in the first place, things weren't supposed to end like this, I felt so powerless because there was nothing I could do to amend my mistake, the only thing that I could do was to see the vanishing soul of Yuya in such a pitiful state while mine was dying little by little… and that's when he appeared"_

Enlightenment was forced to rise his head just to look at Raging, he didn't know if these words were true or false, but if they were a lie then Raging was an impressive actor, Raging may not have noticed but every time that he told a bit of what happened his face reacted to his own words, even the heat was intensified when he continued with his story, his wings lit in a dangerous yellow glow while a dark aura surrounded him but he appeared to control himself.

" _The Crimson Dragon appeared in front of me, and due to the events that happened that day I naturally attacked him with whatever energy I had in me, needless to say that I almost fainted myself due to the low energy I had, I knew that even in my current state I was going to lose against any monster that I encountered so, in my last effort to protect the person that created me I stood in front of Yuya's remnants with my arms extended, ready to receive whatever he would throw at me, but instead of an attack I was engulfed in some sort of crimson aura that revitalized me a little bit, but enough to hear the proposition that he made to me"_

Enlightenment was feeling weaker by the moment, but he lasted long enough to hear Raging's sorrowful words, he didn't take too long to put two in two and knew what was Raging going to say.

" _The Crimson Dragon said that he could save Yuya by placing him in a whole new world with a new body, a new start in exchange of someone that could help him against an ancient evil that plagued his own world"_

" _And you accepted because it was the only way to save Yuya"_

Enlightenment finished the sentence by himself but all he got was a small laugh from Raging.

" _I refused"_

"… _what?"_

Enlightenment was perplexed, one would think that, after all that trash talking to himself he would accept the offer almost immediately. He was about to ask again when the sight of that same Crimson Dragon taking his claw to his head made presence.

Raging felt that same headache that presented each night, the same that he shared with his soul partner. Enlightenment heard a loud sound behind him that almost broke his eardrums, with his actual energy turning around was a hard task but he did it anyway just to look at the mixture of light blue and crimson red that slowly turned into a royal purple.

" _Get out"_

Enlightenment could feel how his energy was being taken quickly and didn't even questioned Raging in the matter, he reached for the small medallion that would get him out of here but the medallion wasn't responding to him, whatever was happening in the central soul interfered with his artifacts, Enlightenment thought he was done for until he felt a warm and oddly comforting heat.

" _Do not tell anyone of this conversation, and for the love of Sophia if you're coming here come prepared for a long conversation because we have a LOT to discuss"_

Those were the last words he heard from Raging before he felt that same sickening sensation of being teleported. Raging looked at the central soul's turmoil and sighed.

" _Just you and me again…"_

Raging took a seat on the imaginary ground beneath him.

" _Just hang on for a little while Yuya, and I'll explain everything"_

Raging placed a hand on his head, still feeling the massive headache from before, preparing himself for another long night of solitude.

* * *

The Memorial Stadium, home of one of the biggest competition held in Neo Domino City where the dreams of every aspiring duelist came true while the aspiration of others got crushed, was filled to the brim with people from all Neo Domino due to the big event of today, the Fortune Cup.

Yuya stood at the front of the stadium looking at the mass of people in front of him, all of them coming for the same reason, but Yuya couldn't help but remember the Memorial Stadium for other reason.

"This is the place where the Crimson Dragon appeared"

The memory of the Crimson Dragon appearing in the sky still lingered through his memory, he wouldn't have thought too much of it should he had appeared right in front of him, but if he appeared in a different place then that means that there were other signers over here, probably fighting against someone or, in the worst of cases, against each other.

"I just hope that whatever it was doesn't happen again"

Just thinking on all the panicked people screaming and fleeing from a giant dragon with abysmal power brought chills down his spine, it would be like his last day on the fusion dimension, memories that he definitely didn't wanted to remember.

" _Even if he wanted to appear again I really doubt that he would do it in plain sunlight where everyone could see him right away"_

"That's true Rebellion, but it doesn't mean that it can't happen again"

Dark Rebellion talked through Yuya's mind while he pushed his Duel Runner to the registration center.

" _So now that we are here, what is the plan?"_

"I really don't have one, probably duel my way to the top and see where I end, after that then I would work on getting the Signers together"

" _And that's all? You know that we can't just go and duel as if it was a school trip right?_

"Look at it this way, we could find one or more signers through the tournament, I don't know if you four already know this but It was kind of… strange that Yeager just gave me an invitation like that, sure I saved three persons including one detective but looking at the quantity of people here I doubt the Fortune Cup is a small tournament, no doubt the invitation he gave me could be given to a top duelist, a recognized duelist or to an elite cop and yet he gave it to me, a random duelist who could've just had a good hand in the right moment, call it a gut feeling but I think that he knows about the Crimson Dragon"

The more Yuya think about the matter the harder was for him to believe that Yeager would just give the invitation to him, he grabbed his right arm where the eye mark rested, Dark Rebellion's expression could not be seen by Yuya but he was quite surprised by his sudden observation, and the more he repeated his words the more sense it made, his words had their own grade of truth but, if those words were to be true then that could only mean one thing.

" _Yuya, what you said right now, there may be the possibility that our enemy is within the tournament, in fact, it is very likely that he could be using the Fortune Cup as a disguise to summon the Crimson Dragon and test his power._

"Are you saying that Yeager could be part of whatever is trying to destroy the Crimson Dragon?"

" _Not directly part of it, maybe a minion that is being misguided by a greater influence, he actually had a feeling of relief when you saved Soichi, but I'd be watchful of that little midget"_

Yuya sighed, this whole save-the-world thing was supposed to be easier for him but it's as complicated as it was during his own timeline.

"At least I'm not the villain this time"

* * *

 _5 minutes before_

Today was an important day for the selected duelist that made it to the Fortune Cup, but for Junko Hattori it was different, Yeager had given her the job to watch over five duelists in specific, all of them participants in the Fortune Cup, she was told to now question him and follow his orders, she accepted without hesitation but she had other plans.

Junko arrived at the Memorial Stadium where the Fortune Cup was to be held, masses of people outside waiting for the competition to star. She understood the commotion as she is a fan herself… or at least she was until the Zero Reverse happened.

" _He would've loved it"_

She thought while holding her locket close to her heart, she couldn't forget that fateful day even if she wanted, wherever she turned only remnants of an old city could be seen, how people cried at the sky in desperation but most importantly, how powerless and miserable she had felt after discovering the whereabouts of her family.

Junko clenched her locket, the time of sorrow has passed and she had her own mission to accomplish, discover the reality behind the Zero Reverse and bring Goodwin to the light!

Junko made her way to the stadium, she composed herself and remembered the participants she was ordered to look at, two of them were the twin duelist Leo and Luna, both at the young age of 11 with the latter holding a status of prodigy duelist while his brother Leo possessed a doubtable win/lose ration for someone who is chosen to be part of the Fortune Cup. Why two kids were chosen to participate were out of her league, not only that but the girl had a medical record that should have been taken into consideration, this complete nonsense just brought a bad flavor to her mouth.

Next on the list was a red haired girl by the name of Izayoi Aki, daughter of Setsuko Isayoi and the representative of Neo Domino on Japan's House of Representatives Hideo Izayoi. Her file showed nothing but perfect scores during her time on Neo Domino's Duel Academy, something that caught her off guard about her is that some of her information remain hidden by black ink. Junko knew that Izayoi Aki was the Black Rose Witch due to the duel she witnessed a week ago, if she had a guess then those black inked pieces of her life could have been the start of her path. Other thing that she noticed is that her information was cut between her 15s and 16s where she was last seen with an individual of red-styled pompadour, most probably the head of the Arcadia Movement.

" _That would explain the missing part of her life, maybe the Arcadia Movement has something to do with her powers, I need to investigate further to get a conclusion from it"_

The four duelist that she had to keep an eye on was a Satellite with a criminal mark on his left cheek by the name of Fudo Yusei. She was surprised once she got a look at his profile, born in Satellite and raised in a small house by a Satellite resident called Martha, he was part of the 'Territorial War' that happened over Satellite some years ago where he and other three duelist defeated every gang present over Satellite, one of his teammates was unidentified, the other was a man with orange hair identified as Crow Hogan, multiple criminal marks on his face and pursued by security for stealing and resisting arrest, and the leader of his team Kyosuke Kiryu who was arrested some days after Security started to arrest every duelist present on Satellite, incarcerated due to heavy assault on a Security officer and resisting arrest, he was later found deceased on his cell some months ago. Pretty few could be seen after that part of his life but he attracted the attention of Security once again after he crossed from Satellite to Neo Domino through the main disposal pipe using a made Duel Runner, she had to admit that it was a bold and intelligent move, but he apparently wasn't fast enough and was taken down to the facility afterward, some days after that he got out due to Goodwin's order, he apparently has been lying low to evade Security. Junko made sure to be more watchful of Yusei, not because of his record on the Facility and being from Satellite, but rather because he was taken into custody the same day the Crimson Dragon appeared in the sky.

" _Poor guy, life must've been harsh for him"_

And last but not least was his most recent case, the boy who was a complete ghost to the system, the duelist that didn't even had a bit of information for her to gather, the boy who had defeated the Black Rose Witch and apparently mastered all summoning methods Sakaki Yuya. All information of him was completely nonexistent, to the point where one could say that he appeared out of nowhere. None of his cards appeared on the database, no education record and no official win/lose rate, something was up with that boy.

" _He appears to have a kind and caring personality none the less, something remarkable these days… but there is still one thing I haven't figured out"_

One thing that perked her interest in Sakaki Yuya was not the fact that he manages to defeat such formidable opponents so easily, but rather how he managed to deflect the roots of Black Rose Dragon with a dragon of his own, was it possible that Sakaki Yuya was one of the scarce psychic duelist across Neo Domino? He was also the only person that has come completely unscratched by an attack of the Black Rose and to top it off. With no connections or affiliations Sakaki Yuya was definitely the most enigmatic and mysterious of the five.

" _So much questions and so little time, one thing is for sure and is that those five are on Goodwin watchful eye for a reason, and whatever that reason is I will discover it"_

Junko walked to the entrance of the stadium until she heard a known voice. Turning around she found herself looking at a young tomato-like haired man with a crimson Duel Runner, Junko hide herself into the mass of people and got just a little closer to Yuya, not enough for him to notice her but close enough to actually watch him carefully. He appeared to be talking to himself, she couldn't get a glance at what was he saying but it appeared to be important, the mass of people around Junko made it almost impossible for her to hear him but she managed to hear something before losing him into the competitor's checkup.

"Rebellion?"

What does that mean? He didn't look like the type of person to do something so radical as to start a sudden movement of people. Junko thought for a moment until she remembered the current situation of the Daimon Area, the last week she had received reports concerning the area where criminal activity started to cool down, some criminals even turned themselves, all of them mentioning a red-haired duelist that 'opened their eyes', she couldn't discard the possibility that Yuya was responsible of their change of heart but a recent camera installed after the destruction caused by his duel with Aki could say otherwise, Yuya was at duel with a recent convict who was involved in a robbery, the convict showed a malicious glare after looking at his 'apparent win' but it all changed after Yuya activated one card, one card that changed that malicious glare filled with evil intent into one of disbelief and regret.

"Smile World"

After he activated Smile World Yuya started a small speech that was followed by a combination of Advanced summon and some spells that guaranteed him his victory, anyone would have called Security instantly but he just walked to him and offered his hand in sign of good sport, some hours later after the duel recorded that same convict declared his crime and got himself prosecuted. Junko was sure that a single speech mixed with a silver tongue would not be enough to convince a criminal to turn himself in, and with the powers that she had witnessed, could this card be able to convince people into his own words? She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, sleep deprivation was making her delusional and she needed all energy she could muster.

"This is going to be a long day"

* * *

"It should be here"

Yuya said while pushing his Duel Runner to his assigned slot.

"Now we just wait until the Fortune Cup starts, for the moment we should go to the waiting room"

Yuya said while making sure that his Duel Runner parked correctly and then proceeded to the waiting room.

" _I can't believe we are doing this again"_

Odd-Eyes said with a light chuckle.

"What do you mean?"

" _You know, participate in one of the most anticipated events in the city while being watchful of some evil lurking in the corner, at this point is kind of funny"_

Odd-Eyes chuckled yet again while Yuya got a sweat drop by his comment. Yuya was about to make answer back when he saw a figure in front of him, Yuya was unable to stop himself and bumped into him, he was about to say sorry until he had a better look at the person in front of him.

A pair of bright blue eyes, long brown hair and a sharp look were the first thing that he observed followed by a large purple coat with golden buttons on the collar and in the middle of her coat, a golden KC could be seen right at the collar while a black shirt could be seen under it, a card hanging from her neck by a brown cord, a pair of pants that matched her shirt in color and a golden belt.

The woman in front of him kept her serious face, Yuya got out of his trance and apologized.

"S-sorry, I wasn't paying attention"

Yuya said while placing his hands in front of him, the woman however just looked at him with that same serious expression plastered on her but softened her expression after taking a good look at him.

"Don't worry"

The woman would've just go after that but the pendant hanging from the teen caught her attention, that twin-colored hair of his and the strangest characteristic he had, his heterochromia. The woman smirked.

"Sakaki Yuya isn't it?"

Yuya was surprised that she got her name right off the bat, how did she know his name? He was about to ask until the woman continued.

"You won the charity event a few days ago, pretty much everyone who looked at it knows who you are, impressive demonstration by the way"

The woman said keeping that same smirk on her face.

"Oh right, I forgot about that by now"

He just rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. The woman returned to her serious look and asked.

"If is not too much to ask, where did you earned your skills? North Haven Academy? New Faith School? Neo Domino's Duel Academy?"

The woman questioned Yuya while he thought about the answer, she didn't look as the type to go for a vague question, he didn't know why the woman was questioning him but he replied a brief answer.

"Academia"

A brief answer that could end her questioning, the woman looked at him as seriously as before but smiled shortly afterward.

"I see… if you excuse me"

The woman continued her way going opposite to Yuya, she passed close to him and barely touched his hand with hers, Yuya didn't know why but he felt a sudden chill going through his spine, he stood motionless for a second befor looking at the woman for a last time.

"W-wait"

His plead fell on deaf ears as there was no one to hear it, Yuya stared at the empty corridor, he was startled by the sudden feeling and his mind was set on one thing.

" _I'm sure that I've seen those initials before but where?"_

Yuya placed those thoughts away and continued to the waiting room. The woman who was out of reach smirked.

" _Those little lies won't work on me, Yuya"_

The woman thought before getting out of sight.

* * *

" _You think the girls are already here"_

"Even with the horrible traffic outside they should've arrived already"

Yuya finally arrived at the waiting room where participants could choose to wait until they were called for the opening ceremony, Yuya found that there was way less people than he thought, in fact there was just one person here, one that impressed him more than the woman from before.

"Yusei?!"

Yusei turned to the dichromatic teen, he kept his serious look but was equally surprised to see him.

"What are you doing here? I mean you must be in the tournament obviously but, you know, I didn't expect you"

Yuya ranted while Yusei softened his expression.

"No problem, but I can say the same"

Yuya laughed nervously while Yusei remained his expression, Yuya decided to continue the conversation not wanting to end in an uncomfortable silence.

"How did you manage to enter into the competition?"

Yuya's curiosity got the best of him while Yusei regained his serious expression, apparently that was not a question wanted to answer.

"It's a long story"

An uncomfortable silence followed after his question and Yuya didn't know what to do, he looked at Yusei and saw a white claw over his shoulder.

" _A monster comforting him? But he can't see him"_

Yuya got closer to Yusei and somehow felt a wave of sorrow going through him, he got one of his free hands to Yusei's shoulder and saw how the white claw hesitated to move, Yuya decided to ask him directly.

"Is something wrong?"

Yusei turned to Yuya who had a curious look.

"It's nothing but I don't want to enter into details"

Evading the question, could he have been forced to enter just like he was forced to go into the Friendship Cu back at the Synchro dimension?

" _I can't discard the possibility, after all, he does have a criminal mark on him, getting an invitation is probably impossible with one of those"_

Yuya looked briefly at that yellow line on Yusei's left cheek, how something so small could ruin the life of a person in a matter of seconds, limiting you and making other people look at you as a criminal.

Yuya let those thought slip out and changed the theme of conversation.

"Hey Yusei thanks for the speed spell, it's pretty useful"

Yuya finally got a positive response from Yusei as he finally faced him.

"Yeah, that card has helped me multiple times, I haven't been able to use yours though, maybe that change during the tournament"

He said with the smallest glint of excitement in his voice, Yuya just smiled at him.

"Who knows, maybe you'll end up using it against me"

Yusei's interest was touched by his commentary.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Only if you accept"

Yusei thought about it, he was forced to enter in a competition he really didn't care about, his friends were captured and no wonder what would happen if he lost, not to mention that things were going to get messy after the Fortune cup ended. Even since he arrived at Neo Domino almost everything has gone downhill, but he knew better than to stay in the bad side of things and this guy Yuya looked as one of those persons, he reminded him of some of his friends back at Satellite who always looked at the bright side.

"I accept so you better stay undefeated"

Maybe it was his duelist pride who was talking but something deep inside was telling him that, maybe, this wouldn't be as bad as he thought.

" _All contestants present yourselves on the field"_

Both teens perked after the announcer said that it was time for the opening ceremony.

"Already? I expect they arrived in time"

"Who?"

"Oh well, I don't know if the twins told you already but they are contestants too, talk about talent, not only them but two Friends of mine are contestant too, as of now I don't even know if they made it to the stadium but I wouldn't worry about them, I would worry about us because we are here sitting on a sofa while every contestant is rushing to the arena"

Yuya laughed a bit while Yusei smirked at his comment, but he was right, both of them were losing time.

"We better get going"

Yusei declared with Yuya leaving first not noticing the slow pace Yusei had, he waited until Yuya was out of reach and pulled a card from his deck, a white Synchro monster with the WIND attribute and 8 stars, a green milky way behind him, his own ace Stardust Dragon. Yusei looked as he thought if the tournament, he didn't know about the opponents that he'll go up against but there is a probability that he goes against one of the twins or Yuya himself!

Yusei sighed, even if he was against one of them he had to advance in order to save his friends, challenge Jack and discover why Rex Goodwin was so interested in him, not to mention the strange mark that appeared on his arm the day of his duel against Jack and yesterday when that red-haired woman attacked the Daimon Area.

But not now, he is a patient person and knew that it was not the time to think on those matters, for now he would follow his game.

" _I don't know what's your game Goodwin but I won't be a part of it"_

* * *

Yuya reached one of the gates that lead to the inside of the Memorial Stadium, and his thoughts were correct, multiple persons were being lectured by what appeared to be one of the staff in charge of the contestants, Yuya looked behind him and finally noticed the absence of Yusei.

" _Must have outrun him"_

"Yuya!"

Now that was a known voice! Yuya turned to the two little kids that manage to get inside of the tournament who were accompanied by his two female friends.

"Where were you? We searched the entire stadium for you but we couldn't find even a simple clue"

Tera said with a little pout as the two kids giggled at her antics.

"Oh I was with a friend, you should know him by now Leo, Luna"

The twins wondered who this friend was until they looked at the corridor behind Yuya, both with excitement.

Yusei had catch up to Yuya and found himself with the twins and two girls who were looking directly at him, the twins didn't even think about it and shouted his name while greeting him.

"I can't believe you're in the Fortune Cup too, this is awesome!"

Yusei smiled at the two kids in front of him.

"It's good to see you"

The twins looked happy to see Yusei while Tera and Mika were a little impressed by the guy who just arrived, the two would never thought that a person with a criminal mark could be a contestant in the Fortune Cup. Tera did her best not to look directly into the yellow mark on his cheek but it turned to be harder than expected, Mika forgot about his criminal amrk and introduced herself.

"Hey, I'm Mika and this is my friend Tera, it appears that you already know Leo, Luna and Yuya"

She introduced herself while Tera finally got her eyes out of his criminal mark and smiled back. Yusei returned to his normal expression and introduced himself to the girls, Yuya looked at the persons in front of him, excluding the staff member who looked kind of desperate there were only 14 persons here.

" _Two persons left, whoever they are must've had a reason to arrive so late"_

Yuya thought on how those two could be, maybe some prodigy on the field who could go against the elite, or it could be a lucky guy who was there at the right moment at the right time

" _Who knows, maybe it was that woman I found earlier"_

The brunette woman he found earlier was still in his mind.

" _Why did I feel chills just because of her presence?"_

And not only that, those two letters on her wardrobe, he could have sworn that he had seen the initials KC somewhere else.

" _Brown hair, blue eyes and a sharp confident look… sounds familiar but I can't recall anyone wi- "_

For the second time on the day Yuya felt a sudden chill down his spine, his friends turned to him after looking at the strange expression he had but all of them got a mixture of emotions after looking at the person behind him.

Yuya turned around and looked at a beautiful woman with red short hair that reached just above her shoulders, red clothes with an old Victorians style, black gloves that reached above the elbow and black stocking, and the trait that made Yuya recognize her the instant he looked at her, any person would say that she had one of the most beautiful face that they had ever seen but Yuya knew better, this was the same face he saw on that night.

Tera and Mika couldn't hide their shock, what was Aki doing here of all places? No, that was not the question, if she was here it was for a reason, and that reason was pretty evident by now but her powers could place the other contestants in a primal danger, both twins recognized her by the clothes, Leo placed himself at Yuya's side while Luna placed herself behind the two, Yusei had the same stoic expression that he had most of the time while Yuya changed his expression just in time.

Aki didn't know why she was here, even if Divine said that this was the perfect opportunity to show Neo Domino about the capabilities of the psychic duelist everyone should know what they could do by now, especially her. She wasn't even interested in dueling the current king of Neo Domino and even less to be crowned as 'queen'

" _Even if I won I'd just be treated as a monster anyway"_

Aki walked slowly to the rest of the contestants, she opened her eyes and looked at the rest of the competitors, nothing to worry about just as she expected, or at least until she looked further.

" _So those two are back, if I could go against them and an officer at the same time a one on one won't be so hard"_

She thought about her old 'friends' back from the duel academy, to think that there was a moment where she was fooled to think of them as friends. Next on the line was the same black haired man from yesterday, a guy who tried to 'rationalize' with her and a guy whom she fled after looking at a similar red sign on his right arm, looking at a sign like that not only reminded her of horrible moments but also made her remember that night where she was almost defeated.

" _I'll admit that someone brave enough to face me dead on deserves some respect"_

Behind his leg was that same little girl from yesterday and not so far of her was a similar looking kid, Aki looked at them briefly.

" _Now Goodwin places little kids into a competition? The nerves of that guy, no wonder Divine thinks low of him"_

Even after being seen as a monster, Aki would hate to confront one of those kids, she had a lot of rage inside her but venting it off on some kids would be too much, even for her.

The rest of the contestants didn't look to be so thought until she found herself looking at a pair of dichromatic eyes belonging to the only duelist that has placed her on the loser side as of now, she could almost feel how her hand trembled for a moment but soon after she turned it into a fist, not only he humiliated her but also made her flee from a duel! She never had a necessity to do something so cowardly until he appeared.

Aki relaxed herself, as much as she hated to admit it stay until the end would bring her more problems than it would prevent, not only because her mask broke but also because of that terrifying aura that enveloped him, she could've even sworn that his voice and mannerism changed on that last turn.

Aki passed the duelist with a scowl present on her, she had expected low resistance from the competitors but if HE was present then she had to go all out while maintaining a generous hand, she then smiled a bit.

" _A hard opponent to beat, but things won't go at your favor this time"_

Aki could hear the cheer from the people outside echoing through the stadium in a massive euphoria. All the contestants got ready after hearing the same, every one of them preparing themselves for wat was incoming. After they crossed it would be definitive, the day the Fortune Cup started, the Day where Goodwin's plan would begin.

* * *

 **And there! It took a while to remember how I was suppose to continue but I manage to get the chapter without complications, remember to leave reviews and favorite/follow if you are interested on this fic, see you next time.**


	14. Acceptance

**It's been a while hasn't it? Welcome back to another chapter of the heterochromatic duelist! I've been occupied these last months, that's all I have to say from my part, just before you, the reader, start with the chapter I remind you that Tera, Mika and the niece of Mokuba are creations done by MatiasNightlord01.**

* * *

The cheers of the multitude could be heard all around the city of Neo Domino as the Memorial Stadium was filled to the brim, the Fortune Cup was about to start and the day could not be more beautiful. With a clear sky and not a cloud in the sky it was the moment everyone was expecting, the massive cheers erupted once again once they heard the voice of a familiar man in a red suit and an extravagant pompadour appearing on the field.

"People from Neo Domino City! The moment you are waiting for has finally arrived! Today is the day where 16 duelists all across Neo Domino have been selected to go across the battlefield, all of them with their dreams and hopes on the line for one sole purpose, go against the King of Riding Duels, Jack Atlas!"

The people erupted in cheers as they looked at the words of the extravagant MC who never failed to excite the masses with his charisma, everyone was waiting impatiently for the participants to be revealed, everyone but a handful of persons who already knew this information beforehand.

On top of the watchtower the director of Security calmly watched as the stadium was filled with the ringing voice of thousands of people, all of them waiting for the start, a smile presented on his face.

 _"Everything is going according to the plan"_

Goodwin smiled to himself. His plan to reunite the Signers in one place would soon take place and no person in the stadium would be able to figure out what he really wanted to do. The numerous sacrifices he made during his entire life would finally bear fruits, and the factors that would ensure his dream become true would soon fight against each other.

"Quite the show down there, Mr. Goodwin"

Goodwin turned to the source of the voice, knowing the person behind it. Goodwin found himself staring at a man with a large ponytail who passed his waist just by a few inches, said man wore an expensive white suit with an electric blue tie, a golden KC could be seen on the suit's collar. Goodwin looked at him with a casual smile.

"Kaiba Mokuba"

Goodwin addressed the man in front of him, none other than the actual CEO of KaibaCorp, Mokuba Kaiba. Goodwin looked at Mokuba's greyish purple eyes. There was no person on Neo Domino- no, on the world who wasn't aware of the Kaiba name, after all, Kaiba Seto was definitely one of the most important men on the face of Earth, called the only person who could rival the old King of Games himself, Mutou Yugi. Goodwin was always careful when it came to KaibaCorp or any of their employees, especially when it comes to the likes of Mokuba.

Mokuba walked slowly to Goodwin, he may look like one of those Top executives, and he does have the money and power to be one, but he was part of the Kaiba family. Ever since the Zero Reverse and Kaiba Seto's decease, Kaiba Mokuba, former Vice President of KaibaCorp, took the mantle of his brother and became the president of the same corporation that was ripped off their hands in the past. Most people, if not everyone, where sceptic of Mokuba at first, not sure if he was able to fill the shadow his brother left, not only because Kaiba Seto had been the person to place KaibaCorp as one of the most advanced companies in the technologic aspect, expanding it from international to worldwide in a short span of time, but they were wrong, Kaiba Mokuba not only showed great efficiency as the head of the Kaiba Corporation, but also managed to place KaibaCorp at the top of the technology industry.

"I must say that I didn't expect to see you so soon"

Goodwin gave a false smile at his own comment, the Kaiba family was definitely not to be underestimated, especially Mokuba. Seto may have been the person who could wield the power of the Egyptian God and, as a result of that, work with the supernatural phenomenon, but there was always one person that stood with him, and that person was Mokuba. Rex Goodwin had always distanced himself with both Industrial Illusion and KaibaCorp due to the events they involved themselves in the past.

"The things you get to know after becoming the head of Sector Security"

As Goodwin thought about this, Mokuba had already made his way toward him.

"I've arranged my schedule so I was able to get to the inauguration, I wouldn't want to lose one of Neo Domino's biggest events, after all, it's been a while since a member of the Kaiba family "

Mokuba watched with complete interest at the duelist present in the arena, ignoring the stare Goodwin threw at him.

"Mind if I ask you something, Mr. Kaiba? Something regarding your… niece"

Mokuba kept looking at the duelist, he clearly heard the words that Goodwin said but paid no attention to them, he finally looked at Goodwin and answered with a short 'yes'

"Some days ago, you and your niece came to my office and, after a heated conversation, finally convinced me of letting her in into the Fortune Cup, my question is, why she has not presented herself into the arena yet?"

Mokuba smiled at Goodwin who, in turn, raised one of his eyebrows.

"She has matters to attend to, so she is unable to assist to the opening ceremony, but I assure you that she will attend to her appointed duel, she is a Kaiba after all"

Mokuba assured Goodwin about Rina's whereabouts while he stared at the long-haired individual, a star that was set on the field once he heard a loud booing coming from it, something Mokuba watched with curiosity.

"It looks like the duelist have been seen"

Goodwin simply said while Mokuba looked at the giant screen scattered all across the stadium, each one of them focused on each duelist present, they all looked just like normal duelist until he found his gaze set on a special individual.

"Interesting duelist you got for this year's Friendship Cup, Goodwin"

Mokuba said with no emotion after the picture of a redhead teen and a black haired teen, he had heard enough of the Black Rose to recognize her with ease, and while he didn't recognize the man, the yellow mark resting on his left cheek told him enough.

"An urban legend and a wanted man, you sure have an… interesting taste when it comes to duelist, Goodwin"

Goodwin chuckled at Mokuba.

"I have my reasons, and after this tournament, you'll probably see why I choose these duelists in particular"

Goodwin had his trademark smile placed on his lips while he observed the rest of the opening ceremony, with one sole thought on his mind.

 _"Soon, everyone will know"_

* * *

With the opening ceremony tantrum over by the appearance of Jack Atlas, the selected duelist separated themselves through different parts of the arena, while some of them went to the waiting room for a moment of peace, others choose to wait directly on the stadium's seats, but this is not the case for the black haired duelist Fudo Yusei.

Yusei knew that he was not going to be welcomed by the people of Neo Domino, he pretty much knew that. After living his entire life on Satellite he learned about the 'social class' that could be found through Neo Domino. Any of his friends from Satellite would say that he was the 'Calm type' due to his stoic manner and lack of anger issues, always looking at the bright side and helping whoever need it. Back then very few persons would say something negative or insulting to him, but when someone did he just brushed it off, things were different when it involved his friends but as long as it just involved him he didn't minded.

When the entire stadium insulted him he really wasn't impressed or concerned as he expected this treatment from the start, just pass the entire opening ceremony then go back to the garage where he had his Duel Runner, work there and duel when he was told, do so and finally get his duel with Jack, all while having a watchful eye on Goodwin whom he didn't trust for even a second… but there was one thing that threw him off for a second.

Back there he turned to see the rest of the duelist present on the field, the twins were unsure at what to do, especially Luna, the red-haired girl, whose name was Aki as he heard from the MC, stood with the same serious expression she had through the whole ceremony, Mika and Tera got troubled expressions at the sudden tantrum and the other duelist just looked aimlessly due to the confusion, but Yuya, he was different, Yusei expected a troubled expression or a confused look, but instead of that he saw what could be described as a pissed off Yuya who was slowly clenching his fist, no other person appeared to notice this. He looked angered at something, almost as if the insults were thrown at him, but before anyone could notice the stadium fell in silence, and the insults turned into cheers after the King of Spades appeared in the middle of the arena, that's when Jack appeared.

Everyone watched the King of Riding Duels as he circled the arena with his 'Red Demon Dragon', everyone in awe at the display that Jack was giving. Yusei looked to his sides to see an awestruck Leo with an amazed Luna, Aki with her steel stare and the two Domino girls with a look of emotion, but once again he was thrown off once he saw the expression of Yuya, if his eyes were not deceiving him he could've sworn that he looked at Jack with a hint of sadness.

Yusei continued to think on this until he reached his designed garage, all of this while ignoring the stares of the people he passed. Yusei was not aware, but two beings close to him were having a conversation of their own.

* * *

Junk Synchron, being a monster spirit that could be on the human world, took the opportunity to watch over Yusei, he didn't mind the camp back at Duel Terminal but the Human World was something that very few could see outside of a duel, but Junk Synchron was not outside for mere formality, he was outside due to the monster that presented itself minutes ago, the dragon who illuminated the path of Yusei through Satellite, the monster who became the Ace of his user, the Dragon who could stand against the strongest odds, Stardust Dragon!

Synchron wanted so desperately to talk with his old comrade, to share the adventures he and Yusei passed through to get to this point, to tell him of the new comrades they made and to tell him about the pink-haired beauty he found… but every time he tried to forge a conversation with him he just overheard and instantly responded with a short 'yes', Synchron decided to talk to himself until Stardust decided to talk.

 _"…then Yusei took another shock, everyone on the prison gasped as their only hope suffered in front of them, but they didn't know that Yusei had a plan, and on the next turn, BAM! The prison warden was bombarded with the biggest amount of effect damage that I've ever seen in my monster life! If only you were there to see it for yourself!"_

Junk Synchron said with vigor in his voice, not noticing the stare of Stardust, who looked as if an arrow just hit him on his chest. Stardust was not ignoring Junk Synchron, he would never do something like that, his ears were open even for the most trivial of matters, but the situation at hand had him lost in thought. Yusei had come all the way from Satellite to Neo Domino to defeat Jack once and for all, get him in the process and then… nothing. Stardust was not one to meddle with his master's mind but the things that he heard from his comrades, the things that Yusei passed just for revenge, the mark that will be with him forever…

Guilt was the only thing that he could feel, for now, the feeling that he himself was the cause for all of this to happen started since their 'reunion', where Yusei would have beaten Jack if it wasn't for the Crimson Dragon…

 _"But even then Yusei would not have a place to go"_

Stardust didn't like the idea of a clueless Yusei, but the decisions he had made recently weren't the best if he had a say in the matter.

 _'…no, if Yusei has come too far then the only thing I can do is to aid him on his quest, and this time, nothing will stop us!'_

Stardust said to himself, as much as he hated the situation at hand, he tried to look at the bright side. Yusei had him, and he had his comrades, his friends, his family! There is nothing that will stop them to achieve Yusei's dreams!

 _"-And then Yusei crashed his Duel Runner inside a Top Residence, we thought that we were doomed… or so we thought because a Top resident actually helped us! Could you believe that?"_

 _"Yeah, that must've been… wait, what?"_

Stardust did a double take after he finally paid attention to Junk Synchron after he stopped his thoughts.

 _"Don't you know? Some days ago Yusei was chased by Security and end up crashing on a Tops Residence, we all thought that we were done for until this crazy haired guy carried him away and hide his Duel Runner from Security, pretty strange for a Top to do that if you ask me"_

Synchron said with a joking tone added on the last part while Stardust looked at him with disbelief, he couldn't just believe that something like that happened! It sounded so unrealistic, even for Synchron!

 _"Speak of the devil, the guy is actually here!"_

Stardust turned around and looked at a different assigned garage for the duelist who had a Duel Runner with them, most of them looked at Yusei before going back to their matters, except for one.

 _"Is that…"_

Stardust looked at the guy whom he could feel Yusei was staring at. From his point of view, he could see that this 'guy' was about the same height as Yusei, maybe a bit shorter, and choose to go with light colored clothes, and had a distinctive red/green hair where a pair of goggles rested on. These were the traits that Stardust appraised from him, but with every step that Yusei took he could feel an intense power coming from him, and it became bigger and bigger. The guy must've heard the steps of Yusei and turned to him, for Stardust to see the bright red/green coloration of his eyes.

 _"Flashy outfit in my opinion"_

Stardust looked at how the guy actually smiled to Yusei, it was… strange, no bad intention or any malicious feeling to it, he was actually smiling at Yusei. Stardust watched with interest the interaction of Yusei with this 'Yuya' guy.

* * *

Yuya went from side to side, waiting for the duels to be arranged, he and the rest of the duelist who owned a Duel Runner had to stay on their designed garage until the duels would be confirmed, he had no problem with that until they said that no duelist could be accompanied by another duelist.

 _"You know it's pretty obvious why they can't be here, Yuya"_

"Yeah, I know that Rebellion it's just…"

Yuya wanted to go with the twins as soon as possible to wish luck to the both of them, he was not so worried about Leo who didn't look to be nervous at all, but Luna, whose shyness was pretty obvious, would probably have troubles due to the glances of the people, and Yuya wanted to keep those problems away.

 _"They'll be fine, both Tera and Mika are with them"_

Yuya sighed while he watched a miniature version of Dark Rebellion, whom height was identical to that of Yuya, looked with interest at the plasma TV who held news about the tournament itself, right now it just showcased the duelist and a 'popularity chart' that had just been made.

"…you're right, I shouldn't worry too much over them"

Yuya tried to deviate his thoughts from the twins and focused on the TV, right now he could recognize the duelists displayed, but one thing did catch his interest.

"One missing duelist?"

Both Yuya and Dark Rebellion got closer to the TV to look at the duelist displayed, and in fact, there was one blank space who was left due to the lack of a 16th duelist.

"Strange, one would expect that every duelist would gladly attend to the Fortune Cup without hesitation, why this duelist would not present itself?"

They looked at the reporter whom Yuya identified as the blonde woman that interviewed him not long ago.

 _"I don't like this. If you ask me, that person has something up"_

"Who knows? We don't even have a glance at how this person looks, maybe he or she could be at our side or, you know, not be involved at all with the situation at hand"

Rebellion kept watching the TV thinking of the tournament while Yuya looked at his Duel Runner for the third time already.

"Say, Dark Rebellion, did something happened to Tune Magician? She usually appears around this time of the day"

 _"Tune? She is taking care of Enlightenment"_

Yuya blinked a few times at Rebellion, whose gaze never left the TV in front of him.

"Excuse me?"

 _"She went for him due to his absence at their magic session and found him unconscious on the Well of Time."_

"What?! Is he okay?!"

 _"Yes he is, but Creation and Destruction said that he is unable to move for the moment, he did something on the Well that placed him in a state of extreme exhaustion"_

Rebellion said in a calm tone while Yuya calmed himself, he looked so fine yesterday, what could he have done to be left in that state? Yuya pondered about this for a moment but then decided that he had enough.

"I'm going for a walk Rebellion"

 _"Aren't you going to wait until we are called for?"_

"There is a one in eight chance that we could be the first to duel, but I don't think that would be the case"

 _"…very well, but I'm coming with you"_

"Really? And here I thought that you would stick your face to that TV over there"

Yuya joked while Rebellion finally took his eyes off the news, there was nothing that would matter to them at the moment and, honestly, he was bored.

"Well, let's go to the- "

Yuya didn't finish his own sentence after he looked at the entrance, he could see how Yusei walked through it with an orange monster at his side, the monster in question appeared to be talking to himself due to the lack of Yusei's attention, not that he could hear him in the first place, but somehow he felt that something was with them, Dark Rebellion felt the same and hide himself to be 'undetected'

"Hey, Yusei!"

Yusei turned to the voice of Yuya, who was waving at him with that trademark smile of his.

"Yuya"

Yusei's stare softened after finding himself with Yuya yet again.

"Took you long enough, something took your time?"

"Actually I was with Leo and Luna, it surprised me that you were not with them"

Yusei said calmly while Yuya sweatdropped, Rebellion chuckled slightly and Stardust got more interested in the relationship that Yusei had with Yuya.

"Yeah, I actually wanted to go with them but I trailed off a little and got called here quite early, it may have been just half an hour but it felt like an eternity…"

Yuya kept talking with Yusei while he walked to his own garage, Stardust looked at the two with interest. He knew that Yusei was not someone to trust persons right off the bat but he appeared to be… enjoying himself, pretty much like how he acted with Rally and the others back at Satellite. Stardust would've gone closer to Yuya to appraise him better but he felt… something. He couldn't pinpoint the feeling but it felt similar, yet different at the same time.

"Here it is"

Yusei stopped at an open garage where a crimson red Duel Runner rested.

"Wow, I've already seen it but I say it again, incredible Duel Runner!"

Yuya said while Yusei chuckled a bit, both of them going inside of the garage. Yusei wasted no time on checking his Duel Runner. Yuya looked at how Yusei's first instinct was to go to his Duel Runner, it looked perfect to him but, on the other side, he barely knew anything about Duel Runners, the most he could say about them is how to drive and operate the panel.

 _"Maybe I should work on that? If I am to be here, then I can at least learn the basics…"_

Yuya thought about it, and while he really wasn't into bikes, he did acknowledge that it could come in handy in the future though.

"Hey, Yuya!"

Yuya snapped out of his thoughts as Dark Rebellion's maw appeared near his ear, whispering with caution.

 _"Don't turn around and be watchful of Yusei, something coming from his direction is looking at us"_

Yuya was barely able to suppress a shocked expression due to the words that Dark Rebellion spoke.

"What do you mean by that?"

 _"By that, I mean that something powerful coming from him is looking straight at us right at this moment, I don't feel a dangerous aura coming from it, it's just watching us"_

Yuya looked at Yusei, careful to not make a suspicious movement and looked closely. Barely visible but enough for Yuya to look at the same white claw that took Yusei's shoulder moments ago. Yuya's eyes were wide open, it was the same monster that he witnessed before!

 _"After all that happened to Yusei, it must be very wary of everyone on his surroundings…"_

Yuya thought for a moment before he realized something. So far his monsters spoke well of the monsters surrounding Yusei, well, except for a Skater that he has yet to see personally, but never mentioned anything resembling a monster with this features, if he was asked he could say that it definitely looked like a dragon. Did something happen between the time he did not see Yusei that he obtained a dragon monster? And those features, he could've sworn that he had seen them before.

"Are you okay Yuya?"

"Huh?"

Yuya's red/green eyes met with Yusei's blue eyes and snapped him out of thought.

"You were spacing out"

"OH, that, I was… thinking on some things"

Yuya said without hesitation, Yusei looked at him with curiosity.

"I'll turn on the TV; we wouldn't want to lose our duel by accident!"

Yuya said trying to ease the ambient he planted himself in. Yusei kept his stoic face but said nothing as he had a bit of reason. Losing was not an option that he could take due to the situation that Goodwin placed him in, and he would surely not lose because he was unable to duel his way to Jack.

"...thank you, Angela, for your report on the Fortune Cup, and talking about the Fortune Cup, the match for the Fortune Cup had just been announced!"

Yusei stared at the TV with interest while Yuya blinked at the convenient timing. Both Yuya and Yusei looked at the upcoming duels. They looked at the image of a muscular tanned man appeared together with a man who had a peculiar outfit, an entire replica of a medieval armor, both duelist of the first match. Following them were Mika and a man whit a peculiar uniform, orange trim and black in color, Yuya felt slightly off about this duelist, and his monsters agreed with him, but it was Mika whom they were talking off, she should be able to take care of him with no problem.

The next duel made Yuya gasp while Yusei failed to suppress his surprise. Leo and Luna were to be rivals on the third duel of the Fortune Cup! Both of them not believing that one of them would go so soon.

"To think that they have to duel each other…" Yuya said with a hint of sadness in his voice, Yusei, on the other hand, calmed and talked to Yuya.

"I wouldn't worry about it, while it means that one of them will go, it also means that they will carry the will of the other, and with you guiding them it wouldn't surprise me that they would be excited instead of worried"

"…yeah, you're right, it's just that they both looked so excited for this, or at least Leo did"

He said regaining his smile to see what looked to be a cocky man whom grin went from ear to ear, probably in his early 30s going against Mika, Yuya paid no mind to it as he was confident on her duel abilities, and then it was the turn of Yusei, whose opponent looked like a man who just attended a cult of some sort who preferred to wear an indigo cloak. Yusei looked at the man in the television without an ounce of fear, a fearsome look didn't mean that he would be completely strong.

Both Yu's looked at the screen to look for the next match, with Yusei opening his eyes just a little bit while Yuya's calm gazed turned into a complex expression, it was Izayoi Aki! She was to go against a normal clothed man, grey outfit, green hair and glasses. Yuya couldn't help but stare at the image of the girl on the screen.

Her natural beauty and top-notch skills would have made her one of the favorite duelists of the crowd, but he knew the truth about her, or at least of her alter ego. Yuya didn't know what could have happened for Aki to become like this, and the utter chaos that she made that night.

 _"She mentioned something about psychic duelist, but all I've found of them were a lot of hate forums on the internet and the Arcadia Movement"_

The Arcadia Movement was supposed to be the place where psychic duelist attended, either to learn to control their powers or simply because they wanted a 'safe place' from the society. Yuya has been thinking on them for quite a while, if she really was a psychic duelist then the probability that she was part of the Arcadia Movement was alarmingly high, but if that was the case then why she would go and terrorize the city with her powers? If only he could just ask and get an answer in return that would make things way easier.

Yusei looked at the two duelist present on the TV, keeping his expression as the red-haired girl finally appeared. Yesterday when he was wandering through the Daimon Area he spotted both Leo and Luna with their duel disk, he was fast to approach them asking what were they doing here when she appeared wreaking havoc. If it wasn't because Yusei was at the place of the events then he would not have believed it, but she could cause real damage using her own cards. He had planned to run with the twins and take cover, but he felt an intense pain coursing through his right arm, just like the day he had his duel with Jack and, to his surprise, the arrow-like mark appeared yet again on his arm.

Yusei rubbed his right arm on instinct as he remembered his encounter with her, he chose to remain silent as he had seen it on both Leo and Luna too, but with different marks. Now that he thought about it, did Yuya knew that the twins had those marks with them? Yusei shook those thoughts out of his head and focused on the next duel who, as expected, involved his tomato haired friend.

"Hey, Yuya"

Yusei talked to him just to see him grasp his pendulum in a tight hold, apparently still in trance. Yusei waved his hands in front of him to no avail.

"Yuya!" "Huh?"

Yuya finally got out of his trance to look at Yusei, who looked at him with… curiosity? Worry? His usual stoic features made it hard for him to actually know.

"Something happens?"

Yuya blinked twice while loosening the grip on the pendulum. Aki could wait, but for the moment he had to focus on the Fortune Cup.

"No... nothing to worry about"

Yuya said with his characteristic smile. Yusei chooses to let it slide but something inside of him wanted to know more, could it be that the twins told him of Aki and he wanted to protect them? No, Yuya doesn't look to be one to judge, but that face, he didn't look scared but rather worried.

 _"Could it be that they have met before?"_

Yuya looked at the screen and forgot about Aki to look at his opponent. He was against a man with a small orange Mohawk and glasses. He also chooses to wear an orange/grey jumpsuit.

Yuya's curiosity rose as he could feel that he had seen him somewhere, not only that but the jumpsuit made it obvious that is a Turbo Duelist, good thing that he now has one on his grasp.

Just right at the end, the image of a man with white hair, possibly in his late 20s, who choose to wear a rather luxurious suit appeared on the TV, he was to be paired against the unknown duelist.

They both deviated from the TV as the Tournament section was replaced with the local news, both duelists on their own matters to notice the news on the local gang who installed themselves on the Daimon Area.

Yusei continued to work on his Duel Runner while Yuya placed his hands on the back of his head.

"So that's how it's going to be, I'd honestly prefer to have my match sooner but at least I'll have some time to work on my deck"

Yusei looked at him as Yuya placed a hand on his deck, it reminded him that Yuya, while possibly an exceptional duelist, was still fresh to the concept of Turbo Duels.

"Your opponent looked like an experienced riding duelist, and the decals on his jumpsuits says that he is sponsored too"

The words Yusei spoke sound calm and collected, but they did their purpose as Yuya's eyes widened, while he knew that there would be strong people on the tournament, the thought that he would go against a company-sponsored duelist never crossed through his mind.

"Yeah, I noticed that, but I'm not so worried about it, wouldn't be the first time that I'm chosen to go against a 'Pro duelist'"

Yusei perked up at his comment. He was honestly a bit worried about Yuya going against a sponsored duelist, but not only he shrugs it as if it was a usual activity, but he had also gone head-to-head with pro duelist? Yuya never stopped to impress him!

"So this wouldn't be your first time against a duelist like this?"

"Not at all, things… happened that involved me with some pretty strong duelist and, in the end, I had to go to the battlefield against them"

Yuya said with a soft smile as he placed a hand on his deck, his mind passing the memory of duelist that fit on the 'pro' description, going from Strong Ishijima to other duelists that could easily go against the best of the best, like Edo Phoenix, Tenjo Kaito or… Jack himself.

"But even then I still need to prove myself on Turbo Duels, I can defend myself but when it comes to the long run…"

He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he admitted that he lacked some skills, while he could go and use his monsters and one than other 'handtrap' he still needs to handle the whole 'Speed Spell' use. Yusei looked at him as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, most people would brag about dealing with a 'Pro', even more so if they defeated him and here was him, taking it lightly and admitting that he needed to improve. Yusei found himself smiling at the guy in front of him, he thought about it and finally told him.

"I can help you with that"

Yusei said while taking hold of his Turbo deck, he didn't know how to describe it, but being around Yuya gave a comfortable air, the same he felt when he was with his friends on Satellite. Yuya thought about it and, after pondering about it, he found himself taking his Turbo deck and taking a seat near a table inside of the garage.

"Thanks for the offer, just give me a few moments to shuffle my deck and then we can start"

Yusei nod while taking a seat of his own. Yuya made sure to take the Speed Spells he had at the moment and placed them on the table. While doing so he received a mental word from Dark Rebellion.

 _"Very well Yuya, improve your game and strategies while I 'chat' with that white dragon of his, I'll be back in no time"_

Yuya flinched as Dark Rebellion aura left the room, he must've flinched from this as Yusei's small smile turned again into his serious stare, but a little softened.

"Something wrong?"

"N-no, everything's okay"

Yuya assured while Yusei looked through his deck, but on the back of his mind, Yuya mentally sighed.

 _"Just don't do anything rash, Rebellion"_

* * *

Dark Rebellion stretched his arms and legs as he could feel the normal shock of going through the Human world to the Terminal world, he still wondered how low-level monster spirits could pass with no penalty whatsoever, like Tuning Magician whom never had felt this shock before. When he was sure that every part of him was in place he looked at the two orbiting spheres around him, it felt incredible to have Xyz materials back!

 _"And now is time for some answers"_

Rebellion talked to himself as he set his objective on the camp set by the monsters that Yusei had, with his energy replenished it shouldn't take more than a heartbeat to go and come in a matter of minutes, but as he had no intention to rush things he flew through the forest in a calm manner.

 _"If only I could hear the chirps of the birds… or the sound of other duel monsters at least"_

The alarming lack of monsters on the area still bugged Dark Rebellion to no end, and it started to spread among his comrades and his brethren, who started to feel quite suspicious of their surroundings. More and more they would feel that something was wrong with this place and something or someone was watching them.

 _"At least we have reinforcements in this world… and that skater I suppose"_

The sole thought of that skater that he was forced to call a 'partner' disgusted him, unlike his user who looked calm, collected and was pretty cautious to run into action he was reckless, hotheaded and rushed to the risk at the very first sight of it. Honestly, he still wondered how he was one of the leaders of the group!

 _"He must have done something very good to have a position like that… doesn't make him less of a douche though"_

Rebellion choose to ignore those thoughts, sooner or later he would have to learn to work at his side, but right now he prioritized the white dragon's meeting and get some straight answers from him, nothing too secretive to raise suspicious, just a normal greeting and a fast check on his powers.

 _"I could've sworn that a power like that could only relate to that of a Synchro monster, nothing impressive due to the place we are currently in, but his power was bigger than any of Yusei's monsters, it closely resembles my own power! And his dragon appearance could only mean one thing"_

Dark Rebellion thought as the possibility of Yusei possibly being one of the Signers crossed his mind.

 _"A hard-working person who probably passed through uncountable hardships just to survive, someone who could fall to the easy path of delinquency and yet, he stood on the right path"_

A small smile curved on his maw as he thought on how Yusei actually sounds like a good choice for a Signer. Someone, as composed as him, would not fall easily at the hands of the unknown, not even to some wannabe gods.

 _"Earthbound Gods… a big name, but only time will say if they are actually a match for the Four Heavenly Dragons!"_

Dark Rebellion unconsciously roared the last part as he accelerated to the Junk Camp. While he acted calm near his brethren and his comrades, winding up like a real dragon did feel incredible, no wonder Clear Wing felt so good whenever she flew somewhere.

* * *

 _"Did you hear that?"_

Junk Gardna wondered as he swore that he heard a roar from somewhere, pretty feral in his opinion, but no one heard him as every monster on the camp felt prey to the excitement.

Stardust Dragon was back! And he was on their side, just like the good old times. Every monster present on the camp decided to stop whatever training, hobby or chore they had and quickly scattered to make the camp look as neat as possible, they didn't want that the first impression of Stardust was that of a garbage dump as a base of operations.

Junk Warrior went from side to side, excited and unable to cope with his emotions as their comrade, their friend, their brother was finally back! But he himself loaded with work to welcome Stardust back, he was so worked up that he ignored everything surrounding him, even the green armored monster who shouted at him.

 _"Junk, hey Junk! JUNK WARRIOR!"_

He finally stopped as his most trusted friend used his ability to stop him. Junk Warrior almost fell to the ground as he was forced into defense position.

 _"Huh? Junk Gardna, what is the meaning of this?! Can't you see that I am- "_

 _"Making the place a whole mess by bumping from tent to tent while leaving a trace of dirt behind you?"_

Warrior wondered what he meant when he finally noticed that, while trying to speed up the cleanup, he unintentionally had messed up some tents while rising dirt through his path.

 _"Oh… did I really do that?"_

 _"Yes, you did! Look, I know that you are the most excited about Stardust coming back, but I really think that he could not care less about where is he staying"_

Junk Warrior had no other option but to listen to his friend, who lectured him yet again this week.

 _"Yes, I get it, alright?! I know that he doesn't care but, you know…"_

While not seen to the common eye, Junk Gardna softened his stare, he knew why Junk Warrior acted like this and honestly he understands it.

 _"I know that you feel guilty about what happened back then, but you have to understand that we couldn't do anything about it, not you, not me, not even Yusei was able to stop what happened, and I admit that things got worse… but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, a light that we haven't reached yet! And now that Stardust is back, we can reach that light!"_

Junk Gardna, while being a 'polar opposite' to Junk Warrior, had always been the one to cheer him up once he remembered the event that happened months ago, and while he wouldn't admit it, he hated to see his best friend like this.

 _"Aren't you being quite overdramatic?"_

 _"Says the guy who finally prioritized the organization of this rat's nest"_

A shared laugh was heard, and with that Junk Warrior recovered his former self while looking at the horizon.

 _"Pretty funny… but I'm serious, after failing him in Satellite and making a shame of myself back at the arena, I'd like that the first impression of Stardust was that of a family, just like the old times, for him to see that I can protect my family!"_

Junk Warrior got so engrossed in his speech that he didn't notice the arrival of a black dragon with purple orbs going through the entrance. Junk Gardna closed his eyes as he could feel a migraine already. Junk Gardna still wondered why Junk Warrior called him and the plant-like dragon wyverns, It's common sense to never make a dragon angry! They were lucky that the dragons belonged to that tomato haired dragon user, otherwise… wait, Stardust had appeared recently, and Dark Rebellion appeared out of nowhere unaccompanied… yeah, this could work!

 _"Hey, Warrior, you know what would impress Stardust?"_

Junk Warrior turned to his best friend in a matter of milliseconds, interested in what he had to say.

 _"One of Stardust's most impressive trait is that he always protected his family, but there was one trait that he always admired more than another, and that was his forgiveness, a trait not find on most, if any dragon out there"_

Gardna said in slow sentences, waiting for Warrior to digest his words.

 _"And something that would impress Stardust would be that his traits influenced our family, what I'm trying to say is that you should implement his way of thinking, or at least partly"_

Junk Warrior nodded, knowing why he was saying this and couldn't say that, while he was still wary of those dragon monsters... but they were comrades now, they had to work together and fight together! There was no time for a grudge to become bigger and bigger as time comes.

 _"I get what you are trying to say Gardna, and I'll have it in count the next time I talk with those two"_

Gardna sighed after he finally convinced his friend to mend his mistake with the dragons, and with a final say in the matter…

 _"It's a good thing you say that because that black dragon is just behind you!"_

Junk Warrior eyes widened through his goggles as he turned around to spot the big black dragon inspecting his surroundings, it was at this moment that Junk Warrior figured Gardna's plan.

 _"This was part of your…"_

But he couldn't say anything to him as he had already vanished. So bulky for a monster, but when it came to escaping he was always the first to go! Junk Warrior cursed his luck as he walked to the black dragon. It was now or never, and it better be now as he had the most clear-minded of the duo right in front of him.

He almost flinched as those yellow eyes met him, he could've sworn that a growl came from his jaw.

 _'Do it for your family, do it for your family!'_

 _"Dark Rebellion…"_

Junk Warrior said in a solemn attitude, no hate whatsoever. His gaze never left the sight of the black dragon whose data was still unknown to them. Why was he here in the first place? He had already seen everything that was to be seen, there was no secret in their temporal home that he or his brethren would want, not even those clowns and spellcasters that he called friends.

"Junk Warrior…"

Junk Warrior felt a bit intimidated. He was strong, but not in the 'Dragon Destroyer' league, and the dragon in front of him looked like a monster who could take on the Five God Dragon himself!

 _"So… mind telling why you are here in the first place?"_

Cut the conversation short and then bring your apology, it should work smooth enough to ease the tension, and in the best case, he could even accept!

 _"I noticed that your master is in the competition, just as Yuya is, and I wanted to see if your family was at top notch"_

He flinched. He was right! They were rivals in the Fortune Cup, which means that the reason that he came to the camp was to watch their weakness?!

 _"Don't take this the wrong way! Any monster would think that I'm here to either intimidate or gather knowledge of you and your family, but I am not a lowlife monster like you think I am, we dragons have a pride that would shatter the moment a thought like that would even cross our mind"_

Oh right, dragon's pride, he actually forgot that all dragon monsters had it, even low-level dragon monsters had it.

 _"Oh please! As if a thought like that would occur to me! We are partners, aren't we? We are supposed to look at each other"_

Saved! That was close! But he had to be more careful, he was by far the most intelligent dragon- no, the most intelligent monster that he had ever met! It was almost as if he was able to read minds without being a psychic, it was… actually respectable.

 _"I do admit that I came for one reason"_

Junk Warrior waited patiently, whatever it was couldn't be so bad right?

 _"I was outside in the human world- "_

 _"Wait, what do you mean by that?"_

He must be baffling, there is no way that a monster like him could go to the human world without being involved in a duel, it is summoned on the duel disk or, somehow, being a low-level monster with a scarce attack. Seriously, that made no sense but he never paid attention to it.

 _"I went to the human world, it's no problem for me or my brethren, or an experienced monster at that, you should be able to do the same with enough training"_

He could?! Well, he had never tried to do anything like that, there was no reason to do so if your user wouldn't even bat an eye to you or for you were unable to directly interact with him.

Is not as if his user could see him… right?

 _"As I was saying before being interrupted, I was looking at Yuya in case something looked suspicious and had to alert my brethren and allies when I looked at your user"_

What was his point? It almost looked completely unreasonable to come just to say that he could go back and forth without a problem, there was nothing that he could have seen in Yusei other than his criminal mark and Star- STARDUST DRAGON!

 _"I looked at the figure of a yellow-eyed white dragon with your user, he looked wary of Yuya, obviously not knowing who he was. I came to ask, why was that dragon not with you when Starve Venom and I arrived at the camp? Even with the power that he emanated, going through the dark unaccompanied is a risk that should be prevented"_

FOR THE EGYPTIAN GODS! What were the possibilities that Dark Rebellion was at the same place that Stardust?! Why the dragon type insisted on making his life a serious issue?

 _'Calm yourself, Warrior, he doesn't know anything about it, you can prevent him from knowing what happened in the past'_

 _"I can't talk about it, it's… confidential and very personal for us"_

This should prevent him from prying even further into his relationship with Stardust

 _"I see… and I suppose that you won't say anything on the matter"_

Junk Warrior chuckled, the black dragon could intimidate and guess as much as he wanted, but his seals were sealed, and his determination is stronger.

 _"I'll tell you if you say what are you exactly"_

He said in a joking manner, just a small joke to move on the 'trial and reconciliation' thing, while he was still a little uneasy of his presence, he had to admit that he would be good-

 _"Alright, I accept"_

 _"Great… wait, what?"_

 _"I said that I'll do it, it's not like you can tell your master about it, and I don't think that Yuya plans on keeping me on the dark for too long, besides, telling you would make it easier on the long run"_

This was kind of unexpected… but welcome nonetheless, at least Archer will finally shut up about this matter.

 _"Don't be so surprised, anyway, I am a- "_

Dark Rebellion's perk up as he felt something, it wasn't powerful neither big, but he definitely knew this feeling.

A monster was detected

 _"This'll have to wait; I need to go"_

 _"What? But we were- "_

He didn't even finish as he saw the massive black dragon ready to take flight. Junk Warrior had to take a decision, fight or flight! He chooses what he thought was best, and this time there was no one to tell him to restrain!

 _"I'm going with you!"_

Dark Rebellion looked like he wanted to complain, but he shrugged it off.

 _"Fine, I'll guess that as a leader you should know about this, just don't stall too far from me"_

For the first time since he saw Dark Rebellion, Junk Warrior finally smiled.

 _"I'm not one of the fastest in my comrades for nothing, I should be the one telling you the same"_

What was that? Junk Warrior could've sworn that he heard the closest thing to a dragon chuckle coming from the serious black dragon. Maybe he was not so bad as he thought.

 _"Are you ready?"_

Just one chuckle was heard from him, followed by a single phrase before they went to the source of Rebellion's signal.

 _"As I'll ever be!"_

With that said, both monsters ventured into the forest, not knowing what was waiting for them.

* * *

 **And that's that! Next chapter will take on the very start of the Fortune Cup, and to any of you who felt that I should've done a duel on this chapter, well, sorry to disappoint but I felt that something like that would rush things off. See you in the next chapter, Pilot out!**


	15. Raising Fire

Junk Warrior, the prideful monster of the Junk archetype, the moral leader who acted as the pillar of support for his comrades. He had gone through numerous hardships, the loss of many friends and betrayal by one of his most trusted allies. The Red Demon's Dragon had taken not only him and his comrades but his master's most trusted card, most trusted friend. Ever since Junk Warrior swore on his name that he would not blindly follow any other monster.

 _'And yet here I am'_

Junk Warrior looked at the black dragon in front of him, his sight shifting from the black orbs circling through him to the long fangs placed on the maws of the monster. Junk Gardna told him to make peace with the dragon, something that conflicted directly with his own belief, and yet here he was, following the dragon to an unknown location where the two of them would be alone.

Completely alone.

Junk Warrior could not lie to himself. Fear was a feeling that he couldn't show, but whenever he was near Dark Rebellion or his 'brother' as he called him, fear dwelled inside of him. Not really for him, he was used to going against stronger monsters than him, but his comrades, his partners, his friends who welcomed both of them with open arms! He couldn't be so open about it, not to other monsters at least, he knew that due to the recent events he should be thankful of how things have gone, but the grudge that he built for other dragons was still there. Maybe he should consider Gardna's words in consideration

 _"Our objective is not far from here"_

Junk Warrior nodded, he may not know where the black dragon was leading him to, but if he wanted him dead he would have acted already. Junk Warrior thought that maybe he could ease the tension between them by getting to know each other, at least it was worth a shot.

 _"Hey, Dark Rebellion"_

The dragon gave a low roar in response, indicating that he was hearing him.

 _"I was wondering that, well, considering that you and your brother are not aware of our surroundings… maybe you are not from Neo Domino"_

Dark Rebellion gave him a fast look and answered with no hesitation.

 _"We are not; it must be pretty obvious by now"_

 _"Yeah… I guess so"_

They both continued their flight. Junk Warrior could feel that he was slowing down, probably to feel the presence of whatever they were trying to find. He decided to try again, his fear turning into curiosity for his foreign 'comrade'.

 _"If you are not from Neo Domino then, where are you and your master from?"_

Dark Rebellion growled a bit, not for the question itself but rather from the way he called him, while he respected Yuya and acknowledged him as one of the strongest duelists he has ever seen, calling him master was… strange.

 _'He does look at us like companions instead of servants, and knowing Yuya he would have problems with us calling him master, not that we would do it in the first place'_

Dark Rebellion chuckled as the thought of an exasperated Yuya run through his mind.

 _"Hey, are you there?"_

Dark Rebellion regained his posture and halted his speed, with Junk Warrior mimicking his actions

Both Dark Rebellion and Junk Warrior landed in the middle of a clear area of the forest. The area itself was small but lacked the dense foliage that would make their landing more difficult. Junk Warrior ignored the fact that he avoided his question and focused on the matter at hand.

 _"Is there where you felt that presence?"_

 _"No, but this is the clearest space for a landing, the monster itself is just some meters away"_

Junk Warrior nodded and configured his map to adjust to the environment, while doing so he adjusted his radar to detect movement, just in case their 'objective' moved. Not a second before doing so he received a signal nearby.

 _"It's northwest from this point, and the target is moving"_

 _"Got it"_

They both continued to the unknown presence on foot, with Junk Warrior on the lead.

Their pace was not really fast, not due to the foliage of the forest itself, but as their 'target' moved into a slow pace they decided that this pace was fast enough, and they would not be detected if they got close enough.

Dark Rebellion perceived the aura near the area, just to assure that the monster didn't change his course. A small chuckle escaped his maw after he finally felt a monster aura that didn't belong to a monster he already knew! The aura of a monster that didn't have a 'master' or 'partner'. He could finally have answers on the place they found themselves in!

 _"This is strange, the target stopped moving"_

Junk Warrior stopped on his tracks as he said that, while Dark Rebellion got out of his trance and stopped too. Junk Warrior configured his radar to detect even the smallest movement, but it was all in vain as the target had stopped. Dark Rebellion tried to felt the aura of the monster and realized that it became fainter by the minute!

 _"We are wasting time, let's go!"_

Dark Rebellion took flight instead of going through the forest, his size is a limit that he could not adjust at the moment. Junk Warrior continued on foot while speeding up with his jetpack, barely dodging the thick foliage that surrounded him. Junk Warrior didn't know what could have made Dark Rebellion jump like that.

 _"Maybe our target is dying… as if, he may be strong and act so high but there is a limit as to what a monster can do, and unless he is a dragon deity or something like that I doubt that he can actually feel when a monster is dying"_

Junk Warrior said to himself as he dodged one last tree. He apparently arrived second as he found Dark Rebellion kneeling to something. From his point of view, he could only see the back of Dark Rebellion. He walked to his side and looked at the serious expression of a dragon whose claws were on the ground, touching the chest of…

Junk Warrior gasped loudly as he looked at the monster in front of him, or rather, at the beaten-up monster that could barely breathe.

From what he could see, the monster they tracked down was obviously a spellcaster, a darkly-skinned spellcaster with platinum blonde hair and long twin tails, her outfit had been tattered to pieces that, fortunately, still covered her well enough… most of her at least, he would have blushed if not for the injuries that were definitely the cause of her fainting, who covered her thighs, arms and chest area, not to mention the bleeding that came from her head, interesting enough the wand she had with her was completely unscratched.

 _"For the Egyptian Gods…"_

Junk Warrior kneeled down to get a better look at her, she was… familiar somehow, as if he had seen her before, but never in his life had he seen a female spellcaster, just heard of them, like the Dark Magician Girl and her journey as one of the main monsters from the one King of Duels! But aside from her, no other spellcaster would come to his mind, well, other than the spellcaster he and Yusei fought back then on the turf war at Satellite, he still felt anger just to think of those bunch of nerdy pervs!

Dark Rebellion had his oversized claws over her head and waist, using his energy to stop the bleeding coming from her head, as well as taking care of the injuries that compromised most of her body. He had been surprised to find that she had endured such injuries and still managed to survive.

 _'I won't get my answers with her in that state…'_

She might be injured, but Dark Rebellion had not forgotten the objective at hand.

 _"She has traces of dark magic all over her body, and the lacerations weren't made by hand. This was the work of another spellcaster"_

Living between different types of monsters had his advantages, and this was one of them, he knew how to identify the work of any monster just by looking due to his experience in life and, most recently, to his welcomed companions. Junk Warrior placed a hand on the wand and scanned it.

 _"I don't really have a lot of experience with spellcasters, but judging from the heat coming from the top of the wand and the light weight of it, I'd say that she fought bravely against something, can't confirm what though"_

Dark Rebellion looked at him, then at the wand, and shortly after he extended his claw to the wand itself, Junk Warrior gave the wand to him and, true to his words, the wand was almost completely drained of energy!

 _"To not know a lot of spellcasters, your supposition is strikingly true"_

 _"I may be rash, but I'm not stupid, in fact, intelligence is one of my forts!"_

Junk Warrior said with pride as he remembered his rightful title between his family, Dark Rebellion just stood up with the spellcaster on his claws.

 _"Well then I hope that your speed is as good as your intelligence because you are taking her with the magicians"_

Junk Warrior did a double take as he barely took hold of the spellcaster, she was light but the sudden move had made it look as if he had problems holding her.

 _"W-what?! Why me!"_

Dark Rebellion looked at him with a solemn look, but Junk Warrior didn't flinch.

 _"It'll be you because, for starters, I have matters to attend to, second, my top speed would mess with her way more than you think and third and most important, what would be your reaction should a black dragon with jaws long enough to trespass the hardest iron ever known had you in your grasp?"_

Junk Warrior was about to refute until he heard the third point, true enough if the spellcaster waked up in the middle of the flight the first reaction she'd have would not be the best. Junk Warrior sighed as he had no other choice but to follow the orders of the black dragon.

 _"…fine, I'll do it, just let me configure the coordinates and I'll be good to go"_

Dark Rebellion lightly growled as he looked at the sky.

 _"Good, your good deed will be appreciated, now, if you excuse me I have to go"_

Dark Rebellion launched himself at the sky and flew through the air before disappearing as if he hadn't been here in the first place. Junk Warrior looked at the spellcaster as he waited for his map to come with the shortest route. While doing so, he looked at the spellcaster in his arms, he had to admit that she was a natural beauty…

Junk Warrior sighed as he went to the magician's base, he could feel how his energies left his body as this whole matter finally caught up to him, he did wonder what happened to the spellcaster, what kind of monster could have done something so horrible? Maybe she encountered a predator and manage to walk away? No, that was out of the question, should something like that happened then it would've chased the magician to get a hold of her, maybe it was another spellcaster? Most probably, but then why would someone attack another monster like this? All this matter was starting to give him a headache.

 _"This is how Gardna feels most of the time? Jeez, that guy must have it rough"_

Junk Warrior heard a low ping and looked at a small dot on his visor's GPS. He got sure that his grip on the spellcaster on his arms wasn't loose and fled his way through the thick forest.

Junk Warrior thought on how Dark Rebellion disappeared in the middle of the day, almost as if he was never here in the first place.

 _"He said that I could do the same…"_

There was no reason for him to go to the human world other than to aid Yusei on his duel as one of his favored monsters… but he was curious as to what he would find out there when his life was not at stake.

 _"Then again, why does he goes to the human world? It's not as if he could talk with his master, right?"_

Junk Warrior thought of the impossible, of course, there was no way that a monster could talk with his user… right?

* * *

One hour has passed since Dark Rebellion went back to the spirit world, one hour where he had practiced the use of Speed Spells with Yusei and how speed counters worked.

Yuya looked at the different Speed Spells in his hand and worked his way to learn their effects, their conditions and, most importantly, how they were all affected by speed counters, while Yusei helped him to understand the rules of them.

"Looking at the difference between these two speed spells, it's obvious that activation requirements greatly differentiate from each other, for example, the speed spell One for one ask for 4 counters and a monster from your hand, whereas the speed spell Upstart Goblin just ask you to have 2 or more speed counters on your counter, you draw your card, the opponent gets 1000 Life Points and you keep your counters"

Yusei grinned as Yuya grasped the basics of the Riding Duels while Yuya sighed, while it was not hard to play with, the whole 'speed counter' still lingered on him.

"You certainly learn fast, not a lot of persons can grasp the extent of speed spells and speed counters so easily, are you sure that you have never played with speed spells before?"

Yusei asked as he could not really believe that Yuya would have little to no experience at all with the rules of a Riding Duel, almost as if the concept of a Riding Duel was unknown to Yuya.

"Well, I did know about Riding Duels and I also did a little research on the subject but, well, I'm a person that learns through experience rather than just reading through the information, and I didn't really use a lot of speed spells on the last duel I had"

Yuya said while rubbing his neck, a little embarrassed to admit that he really didn't know how to use speed spells, but Yusei actually flinched at his words.

"You had a Riding Duel without previous knowledge about speed spells?"

Yuya blinked twice as he thought on what he said. Yuya scratched the back of his head in embarrassment as he answered.

"Not the best of decisions I know, but there was this guy who- "

Before Yuya could even say a single word about his last duel, he got cut by a voice coming from the speaker within the stadium, one that made his eyes wide. He took the phone he was forced to carry, the same he always forgot that he had, and he was greeted with at least twelve missed calls, all from the same person. His face quickly got pale as he stood from his seat, Yusei limited himself to look at his friend took his duel disk and ran to the entrance of the garage, while stardust dragon chuckled as the apparently 'friend' of his master stumbled on his way to the exit, but got serious when he bumped into a rather big guy.

Yuya stumbled as he recovered, he was about to apologize until he got a look at the massive man in front of him. It was hard to miss as the man's height was way above average, possibly even bigger than Jack Atlas himself! The dark-skinned man hadn't even bulge as he looked at Yuya with a calm gaze. Yusei looked at both but didn't interfere. Yuya was the first to spoke as he held his hands on his front.

"Sorry for bumping into you! I am in a hurry and I kind of run blindly for a second"

He should stop bumping into people randomly, one of these days it's really going to backfire on him. Most people would be annoyed or even angry for this, but Yuya wasn't really impressed when the taller man chuckled.

For both Yusei and Yuya, Greiger was an unknown duelist, but he was also the only non-marked person that has actually shown some sort of respect toward Satellite and their people. Back when they were still in the opening ceremony, even when Jack had come with his Red Demon's Dragon, the people still throw insult after insult at Yusei due to his criminal mark, Yuya started to lose his composure at the blind fury that the stadium had undergone and, to top it off, Jack just smiled as the chaos ensued, however, everyone on the stadium had gone silent after Greiger stole the microphone from the extravagant MC and defended not only Yusei but every other person from Satellite.

After he was finished, everyone turned to the giant screens on the field, looking at Goodwin ho started to clap after Greiger finished his speech, and pretty much everyone followed suit. Was it for real respect or to calm the multitude Yuya didn't know, but Goodwin's actions brought peace once again to the stadium. He still had troubled feelings over Goodwin, as his instincts practically screamed that Goodwin was nothing but troubles… but right now was not the time to think about him as he had a matter on his hands right now.

Greiger stood in front of the two teenage duelists as he lifted his right hand to them, being polite, Yuya took it and shook it in a friendly manner, with Yusei doing the same. Yusei doesn't have a negative view of the tall and muscular man, he was still unsure if he could trust him, but he was open to doing so, he wouldn't openly claim it, but it felt good that someone talked well of not only him, but Satellite itself.

"You should know by now, but the name's Greiger"

"Yuya, Sakaki Yuya"

"Fudo Yusei"

As the trio introduced themselves, Yuya felt a vibration running through his right pocket, he reminded himself that he had a phone on him now, due to his constant use of his Duel Disk as his most common way to communicate, the thought of a small device that did exactly the same things as his old yet superior Duel Disk still felt alien to him, almost as strange as the so famed 'Master Rule 2' he found himself in.

Both Greiger and Yusei wondered what did Yuya see through his phone that made him turn pale. Yuya just tightened the hold on his crimson phone as he started to leave.

"Sorry guys but I have to leave, see you on the next round, Yusei"

Yuya took his leave as he left the two remaining duelists to wonder what could have caused him to get in such a hurry. Greiger chuckled at his antics as he turned to Yusei.

"This tournament really is full of surprises, I would've thought that most, if not all persons on the field would have something against a Satellite, but it really brings peace of mind to think that that is not the case, isn't it?"

Yusei could only chuckle at his comment. So far, Yusei has only met two persons aside from Yuya who wasn't either in The Facility or someone with a shady past, and both of them were kids. He did treasure the help and the relations that he has built with these persons though, hell, he does live with Jin and Yanagi for the time being while the tournament is being held, but it's a truth that so far, Yuya is the only non-marked person aside from the twins that he actually trusts.

"I take it that he does not judge you by the mark on your cheek"

The small smile that had crept on Yusei disappeared. His usual stoic way took place once again as he didn't say anything to him. The criminal mark on his face is not something he would want to talk with anyone, even if that person actually supported him. Unknown to Yusei, Stardust started to growl at the dark-skinned man. Greiger took notes on his reaction and quickly apologized.

"Forgive me, it must be a sensitive topic for you, it was a mistake of my part"

Yusei looked at Greiger and sighed as he walked to his Duel Runner.

"It's not something that I'd rather talk about, but marked or not, I have my reasons to be on this tournament"

Running some analysis of his Duel Runner from the laptop, Yusei thought on the only reason as to why he was on the tournament in the first place.

 _"…it's your choice, get into the tournament and win, or your friends will perish. Choose wisely"_

Yusei's usual calm posture broke in a matter of seconds as he looked at his friends being trapped in a container. Powerless and unable to do anything on the situation, Yusei had no other choice than to accept the envelope and confirm his participation in the tournament.

 _"Thank you for your answer, and don't worry, we will make sure that your friends remain safe and sound as long as you are undefeated, after all, you wanted your revenge on The King, isn't it?"_

Yusei gripped the envelope in rage as he heard the voice of the little man in front of him. Jeager was clearly taunting him, but the fear that if he snapped and his actions could not only leave him in The Facility yet again or his friends taking the toll of his actions overpowered him as he limited himself to hear Goodwin's right hand.

Back on the present, Yusei looked absent-minded at the screen of his laptop.

"My revenge…"

Yusei had pushed those thoughts out of his head for some time, but it was indeed by that same reason as to why he was in this mess in the first place. His plan of vendetta against Jack had taken a toll on him, not only mentally, but physically and, although he wanted to avoid the topic, he was drawn on the blank as he thought on what would happen when all this tournament ended should he win, for his loss would only-

Yusei shook his head, getting those negative thoughts of his mind, the time for mourning could come later, but for now, he had to be focused, not only for his sake but for the sake of the persons that believed in him and allowed him to pursue his ambition. Through all of his inner monologue, Stardust had felt and seen through the memories of Yusei through his time on Neo Domino. He would personally Shoot Sonic Goodwin once he had the opportunity if the occasion arises, as he was actually aware of the events that had lead Yusei through this path, from the very beginning, but for obvious reasons was unable to say. If only he could hear him…

'The second call, the duel will start soon, the second call'

The sudden call draws him to the world once again as he heard the sound of the extravagant MC ringing through the stadium. Yusei looked at Greiger as he turned his back on him.

"It seems that I have to leave, I would not want to lose before actually having a duel"

Greiger walked out of the garage as he made his way to the stadium, not bothering to bring his Duel Runner as he wanted it to be kept in secret, but he stopped once he heard a shout from the young teenager. Yusei looked at him with his solemn look as he talked with hesitation.

"…thanks for the speech, it is nice to know that not everyone is blinded by the Criminal Mark"

Greiger smiled as he looked at the raven-haired duelist. He was no fool, he was here for his own reasons too, and even if he accepted this job for Goodwin, that same man was unaware of the real danger that he placed himself into. Just as he was out of the garage, he talked one last time to him.

"By the way, I do not know if you are aware of this, but Yuya is more powerful than you think, way more, don't let his carefree attitude fool you"

Yusei was actually surprised at this exchange of words. As he thought on what he could have meant by that, the thought that he had never seen Yuya on the battlefield suddenly emerged. He was completely unaware of what kind of duelist he was, and he had never bothered to talk about recent duels as he was too focused on his own matters. Stardust Dragon did think on the words of the man known as Greiger, as he personally had only seen a black dragon looking straight at him through the entire conversation Yusei had with him, something really out of place. Netherless, he could not shake the feeling that being near him was… pleasant, way too pleasant. He was unsure as to why he felt that way but... it was welcome.

Stardust liked him though, an honest person that see past stereotypes and actually cares, he'd never thought they would find one over Neo Domino, but he felt that something was off with him, that kind of aura coming from one person was alarming, his aura carried some sort of power he had never seen before, it almost looked like a signer but different, way different. Stardust would think about it later, right now he wanted to be with his family, his friends.

* * *

 _'The second call, the duel will start soon, the second call'_

Tera paced back and forth as she waited for Yuya to appear, or to at least answer one of the calls that she had made through the last half hour! She considered doing another one but thought that it would be useless, instead opting to hope for one of her messages to be seen.

"Has he never had a phone before? You're young, you're supposed to be glued to it!"

Tera could be described in many ways, with most of them being adjectives of beauty, but she was also known to be short-tempered, to the point where a simple half hour was too much for her. She was about to call again until she saw Mika, Leo and Luna going straight at her. She had forgotten that they went to buy some snacks for the show.

Tera sighed in defeat as she turned her phone off.

"Any luck?"

Mika asked and giggled at her best friend reaction. The twins took a step back as they looked at the angry stare that Tera had given to Mika.

"Does it look like I had any luck?"

The way Tera said those words combined with the growing vein on her frown send shivers to both twins while Mika sweatdropped. Mika could calm her down... but she loved to see her like this! She almost laughed the moment she lost the rock-paper-scissors game and was forced to wait as she knew pretty well that this would happen.

"He could at least have the decency to look to at least one miserable message! Why would a person have a phone for?! Decoration?!"

Mika found herself struggling not to laugh at her best friend outburst, she instead told the twins to wait while she calmed Tera. Both twins found a place to sit just in front of the two. Leo and Luna noticed the lack of people but sighed.

"What do you think is taking Yuya so long to come with us?"

Leo wondered as he took a handful of popcorn from the various snack he had bought. Luna thought about it for a while until she answered back.

"Maybe he is taking his time to check his Duel Runner"

"You think? It looked good for me"

Luna shrugged as she took another bite of her ice cream. Both twins were clueless when it came to Duel Runners. Leo had shown his interest in riding duels before but due to the fact that they were still kids, had no familiarity with one and were pretty much trapped inside a Residential Area, they had been unable to see one so close, in fact, it wasn't until Yuya won the charity event that they had seen one so close. To Luna, it wasn't as different from a car, only that you could have a duel in one, but given the cost of a Duel Runner, she thought that Yuya wanted to be sure that it was in top notch.

Leo found himself wondering the same until he came on a conclusion of his own.

"He must be working with Yusei! That must be why he is taking so long!"

Luna heard her brother and thought about it. Both Leo and Luna still couldn't believe that Yusei was one of the competitors of the tournament. Of course, they had nothing against him, it is the other way around actually, but he has a criminal mark, something that should have prevented him from being in Neo Domino on the first place, but here he was in all his right. Leo and Luna were one of the few who had no problems with Yusei, but they had seen how the public reacted against him. Luna felt bad for him, she had her doubts at first but she now knows that he is a good person, they should give him an opportunity, just like Yuya did.

"Something wrong Luna?"

Luna looked at her brother and sighed

"Nothing, I just hope that things get better for Yusei"

Leo's mood suddenly changed as he thought about what happened back at the ceremony, he couldn't grasp why the people hated marked persons so much. While he had heard the things about them and how dangerous they could be, all marked persons he had seen have been nothing but nice people, not only Yusei, but those persons on Daimon Area were nice too.

Leo stood mouth agape as he recalled his little trip with Tenpei to the Daimon Area, actually, more like his trip where Tenpei stood in fear most of the time. A trip of whom no adult knew of. A trip where they did actually found the Black Rose Witch. A trip where they actually found more about Yusei. A trip that could have gotten them seriously hurt. A sudden sense of guilt and fright course through him as he thought of how an enraged Yuya would look… which actually took its time to materialize as he had never seen him angry, barely annoyed actually, but that's not the point, he did not want to see his mentor disappointed or angry at him.

Luna had finished her ice cream when she finally noticed the state of her brother. As the girls in front of them had their attention on Yuya's arrival, she took her time to talk with her brother.

Luna placed her hand on his shoulder, getting his attention and quickly asked him if something was wrong. Leo got startled a bit bur, as he looked at her sister, the person he had worried over his young life, the one he cared the most. Leo gulped as he touched the tip of his index fingers together.

"Luna, I suppose you remember what happened yesterday, right?"

Leo said barely audible but enough for Luna to hear, she let a simple 'oh' as she remembered the events of yesterday. Leo had been unable to stay still as he remembered the video Tenpei managed to find. Luna had been unable to hold him on place as she too had her own share of curiosity, not one to believe in urban legends, to actually have proof of one filled her with it. Things got worse for Leo once Tenpei invited him to go to the Daimon Area to search for her.

Just what were those two thinking about!? Sure Leo has improved recently, but he seriously won't go as far as to look for a duel against an urban legend. That is what she thought until she saw Leo taking his deck and modified Duel Disk. She told him not to go, but he reassured her that it would be okay. Three hours had passed, three hours where Luna wondered if his brother was alright, she had enough of waiting and was about to call him when she heard the door of the apartment.

Worry coursed through her as she looked at her brother, he doesn't even have the decency to tell her that he was coming already! She was angry at him for it… but after looking at him closely, Luna could see that he was shaking, and his sight was glued to the ground. As quick as her worry had gone, it went back as she asked him if he was alright. Leo looked startled but he quickly put on a smile and explained how he met with Yusei and nothing extraordinary happened.

Luna, of course, knew something had happened, she tried to press him a little but he avoided her questions, she ends up dismissing the details and opted to scold him. Leo finally gathered enough courage to tell Luna what happened yesterday when he went to find the Black Rose. Luna's expression changed as Leo told her everything, from worry to fear and lastly, anger. Leo expected another scold, harsher than the other but found himself confused once she sighed.

"Leo… I told you"

That… is really all she is going to say about that? Leo didn't know if he should feel relieved or confused, he was prepared for the worst, not for this.

"But you understand that what you and Tenpei did was beyond anything you could handle, right? Both your lives were at stake, you could've been on the hospital right now, or worse"

Now those were words that Leo would believe. Leo wanted to show Luna, Tenpei and his friends that he could handle himself in a duel, when Tenpei offered him and Luna to look for the Black Rose, he had no doubt that this was his given opportunity, but the moment he actually saw her, he froze, he couldn't even get a hold on his duel disk, he was... terrified! It was almost as if time had frozen, and to make things worse, his now recent mark brought up a crimson light as he had to hold his arm in pain, however, it appeared that not only the Witch but Yusei too got a hold of their right arm, both with a similar crimson mark shining in plain day. He couldn't get what the Black Rose said but she vanished from sight as if she had never appeared in the first place.

Leo felt the hand of his sister on his and looked at her, with a simple yet heartwarming smile.

"What matter is that you are here, safe"

Leo felt emotional at the words of her sister, he had never thought about how her sister could felt if something happened to him, he then looked at the sight of his mentor and brother figure, he wondered how he would feel if something happened to him or his sister. Luna looked at the direction his brother looked at and, after some thinking, Luna got an idea.

"But now that you said the truth, I believe a little punishment should be enough"

Leo gulped, hard. He knew punishment would come the moment he told the truth, but he did not expect for his sister to be so blunt about it, she could wait to get home at least!

"I... guess that's fair so, what will it be?"

Luna pointed at the person with the bi-colored hair on the room and said a single sentence that made Leo's skin pale in a matter of seconds.

"Tell him and you'll be free of punishment"

Luna said as she started to walk to the guy who had taken care of them without a single protest while Leo stood mouth agape. Shortly after, he went after her as fast as he could.

* * *

Yuya clutched the back of his head as the pain from Tera's hit still cursed through, it appears that missing a phone call and some messages were enough to suffer the wrath of the tanned beauty that he called friend, all the while Mika silently watched in amusement as her best friend enjoyed herself. Both twins had just joined them as they rushed to their side, opting to stay silent.

"I still can't believe that you forgot you had a cellphone in the first place, sounds like a bad excuse to me"

Normally, Mika would have gone against her friend for being so rude, but she had a point, also, she got tired of waiting too.

"I said I was sorry!"

Tera simply walked through the corridor as she held her arms crossed, laughing internally as she loved to tease him, as she looked at him she decided that it was enough.

"Alright, I accept your apology, but next time you decide to ignore any of my messages of phone calls, I won't be as forgiving as I am now"

Yuya decided to simply accept her words and comply.

"You're lucky arranged participants of the tournament have arranged seats, just imagine if we had to find five seats in a row just as the duel is about to start"

Mika said as Leo thought on it, all of them cramped between two seats while the duel went through. Not a funny scenario.

As they went through the tunnel to the bleachers, the roar of the masses could be heard more intensely. All of them, save for Yuya, listened closely to the sound and got a little unnerved, especially Luna. Leo was quick to notice.

"Are you nervous?"

Luna simply nodded, it was no surprise to Leo who, after an intense debate, manages to convince her sister to assist to the Fortune Cup. Luna accepted to participate because this was an opportunity that she had gotten better and that she could handle herself, an opportunity to demonstrate that she had gone better, but the fact that she had to perform in front of thousands frightened her. Leo thought on how to calm her nervousness, he looked at the two girls with uniform and got an idea.

"Excuse me girls but, are you nervous?"

A simple and quick question, Luna perked a bit at this but said nothing as she wanted to hear the opinion of the girls, maybe she could felt better once she heard their point of view. Tera was the first to speak.

"As if! I was chosen by Neo Domino's Duel Academy for one reason, in fact, the duelist who goes against me should be worried because I won't hold back!"

Tera said with confidence, not noticing the shattered look of Luna whose nervousness started to gain the better of her, but also ignoring the sweatdrop that Leo got with her answer. Mika, who placed a hand on her chin to think, answered shortly after.

"First of all, we were chosen! Not just you, we had a tie, second, the higher-ups of Neo Domino's Duel Academy send us both for this occasion, so it would be better if you acted a little less excited than usual, and third… I guess you could say I am a little nervous"

She said in a soft voice, but loud enough for them to hear. Yuya listened to the conversation and decided not to intervene unless necessary, while Leo sighed in relief as Luna calmed down, but soon started to regret his words as Mika continued.

"I mean, I have dueled in front of the school, but just thinking on all the people that will watch my duel in the middle of a stadium, it's just not the same, not to mention that the minimum missplay could end you"

Tera's eyes widened as she thought on all the stadium looking straight at her, she had thought of it as just the normal Academy duel, but she then thought that this was not a duel where your grades were at stake, they had to go and represent an entire Academy by themselves! She got shivers the moment Mika stopped talking.

"I guess that's true… I'd never thought about that"

Leo wanted to bury himself for the horrible outcome of his idea, not only Luna was nervous now, but it appears that now both of Neo Domino's Duel Academy chosen duelist were too, by his fault! He looked at her sister and spot Kuribon doing her best to calm her down, as she now shivered like she received a bucket of cold water right at the face. He was unsure of what to do until his mentor, his only hope to get out of this situation… laughed.

The four of them looked at Yuya as he laughed a bit, both twins looked curiously at him while the girls looked quite insulted.

"Is something funny?"

Tera said as she'd expect this from every other guy except for him, with Mika returning her gaze. Yuya stopped and explained himself.

"Sorry! It's just that you all remind me of my first time"

Both twins went mouth agape as they found the reason as to why Yuya looked so composed, Mika was startled by this while Mika didn't really know how to react.

"I guess I only told Tera a little about it, but I kind of got into some tournaments before Neo Domino, I do know how you guys feel, I was just like you, nervous at how the people would welcome me, of what they would think of my dueling, if I was enough, but I can tell you from experience that those fears won't go away until you actually try, and when you less expect it, you'll have buried those fears in the past"

He smiled at the four as he quickened his pace. Leo didn't know why he hadn't asked him first, he was, after all, a kind of entertainer as he called himself, but it appeared that it was for the best as everyone, even himself, relaxed once they heard his words. Shortly after their little conversation, Leo and the rest could finally see the end of the tunnel and had to cover their ears as the sound of the masses exploded in cheers, they looked at the field and quickly searched for their seats as the duel was about to start. As if the world was on their side, they quickly found their seats and didn't bother to look at who sat next to who. The cheers finally subsided as the MC appeared.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Kids and Adults! Welcome to the exciting first match of the Fortune Cup! You all have been waiting for too long to be able to see the battle-hardened duelist that will enter to the battlefield in order to gain the right to fight the one and only King of Riding Duels, Jack Atlas!"

Even when those words have been said already, even when the people on the Kaiba Dome knew that already, the crowd erupted into cheers as they would finally see what they have been waiting for over a year! Both Mika and Tera sighed in relief as they made it with relatively no problem at all as the entire row the duelist had been designated was next to empty, in fact, they were the only duelist present on the competitor's bleachers, Tera got curious as to why there was no one in sight while Mika choose to eat the candy she bought earlier. Both twins sat next to Yuya's side, both with their eyes on the field, Leo being the most excited of the five. Both Luna and Yuya choose to watch silently as the two duelists finally appeared on the field.

The first duelist to step a foot on the field was Greiger, while on the opposite side stood a tall man with medieval armor, whose duel disk appeared to have a shield-like appearance. Tera almost laughed as she looked at the man in golden armor, to her it looked like a way to shame one-self, Mika didn't mind the outfit as she took another bite of her granola bar, Leo was trying to think on what kind of monster would he use, if either a Warrior-themed medieval deck or a retro deck with some strong plays, Yuya actually got intrigued as he remembered the time he dressed as a clown for his duel against Ishijima, as a fact he actually liked the costume he had at the moment while Luna silently watched as she stroke Kuribon's fur.

"On one side we have the valiant 'South American pride' duelist, the man who fears nothing and will battle to the top, Greiger!"

Once again the crowd erupted into cheers, while some still booed him, Yuya should not get annoyed by this, he knows that most of them still consider Satellite as a place for the criminals to be in, but it still sickened him that they were treated that badly, he was glad that Greiger at least wasn't one of them.

"And against him, the blue-blood knight who has sworn to take down the evil of the world! The man who will battle to prove himself to the King! Jill deLauncebeaux!"

This time, all the crowd actually cheered back as the two duelists finally gathered on the middle of the stadium, all eyes were set on as each duelist readied itself.

"This will be a ground duel performed under the sight of the clear sky that has been given to us, rules will be performed as normal"

Greiger had steeled himself to destroy his opponent, he was unsure as to why Goodwin would place himself, one of the duel assassins against another, but he had his suspicions. Greiger was not stupid, his opponent, who'd been looking at him the entire presentation, appeared to have no intention to hold out.

"Under the rising sun of this day, I swore that this battle will be over on my victory, and you, my rival, won't have to suffer for long"

His words were transmitted over the entire stadium as the people muttered, his manner of speaking and apparent 'statement' had confirmed it, Jill was not here to reveal the Signer's, he was here for the fame, for the fortune… he was here to win.

"If that's the case then I won't hold back either, let this duel decide who of us is destined to win"

Greiger readied himself as he drew the first five cards of the top of his deck, with Jill doing the same.

" **DUEL!"**

 **Greiger – 4000 – 5**

 **Jill – 4000 – 5**

"I'll concede you the right to start, it will give you the edge to battle at your utmost"

Jill said without even looking at his cards, Greiger wasn't sure if he should feel underestimated or offended, but instead took the lead of the duel as he formulated his plan.

"I draw!"

 **Greiger – 6**

"I summon Spell Reactor・RE and set two cards, with this I end my turn"

A small dragon-esque machine appeared on the field, with red coloring and missiles on his 'stomach' while two cards materialized behind him.

 **Spell Reactor** **・** **RE – 1200 ATK**

 **Greiger – 3**

* * *

The crowd muttered as they wonder what kind of strategy could Greiger have, a monster with a relatively low attack but two set cards could be dangerous. From the top, the sight of a blonde-haired man who watched the duel was unamused at the sight.

"With such a pathetic play, he won't be much of a problem"

The man smirked as he judged the duelist. His name could be heard all over Neo Domino as the King of Riding Duels, Jack Atlas. Rex Goodwin, who watched in silence, laughed quietly at his blonde peon. Mokuba simply limited to watch, he was not here to hear incessant rant of a guy whose ego could rival his long missed brother's.

"I wouldn't call it pathetic"

Jack Atlas rose from his seat and looked at the entrance of the tower, looking at the beautiful yet harsh sight of a woman whose look could be compared to that of an angel, yet, whose eyes could freeze everyone in sight. The woman walked next to Mokuba, who smiled at her.

"He'd rather defend first and go for a plan than walk right into the lion's den, a strategy to formulate a strategy, better than letting yourself take damage on purpose for no benefit whatsoever"

The woman's words were harsh and held nothing back, Jack didn't like her one bit, not at all, but he could not say anything as she was one of the few persons that he would rather think twice to anger outside of a duel. Goodwin got close to her and offered his hand.

"Kaiba Rina. It's a pleasure that you are finally with us"

Rina, the heir of the Kaiba Corporation, the second-in-command of the company itself, the woman who would not accept incompetence, looked at him before shaking Goodwin's hand.

"Likewise, I had to make sure that some… preparations were set, unlike some people on the room, I am busy most of the time"

Jack was unsure as to who was that comment directed, but felt insulted nonetheless, he may have been raised on Satellite and shunned from society since he was a kid, but that doesn't mean that he was unaware of the big duelist that made their way to be the best.

While he admired Yugi Muto for his skills and tactics, his respect falls down on the man who had faced him without an ounce of fear, the one, and only Kaiba Seto! The guy who took all kind of challenges and won his place as the world's strongest duelist until Yugi showed up. Of course, he was aware that the title was not the only thing he was famous for as he was the former CEO of Kaiba Corporation, the only company Goodwin was afraid of.

He knew that this corporation was not over once the Zero Reverse happened, while everyone thought that it would collapse without the head that made KaibaCorp the way it is, his brother Mokuba took the lead and actually manage to keep KaibaCorp at bay, to the point where he even made a complete fusion of Industrial Illusion, giving them even more edge on the Duel Corporation.

Even then, he couldn't stand himself to be insulted like this, even if it was a comment coming from out of nowhere, he had made his way to the top, he has made important decisions to arrive at this point, he decided that arguing about it would not be wise and instead focused on the duel.

"I am sure that everything will be alright, Rina"

Mokuba said to his nice as he placed a hand on her shoulder, the cold-look she had disappeared for almost an instant but not enough for anyone to notice, she instead focused on the duel, not wanting to waste more time on useless chitchat.

* * *

Back on the duel, Jill had just drawn his card.

 **Jill – 6**

"I see you won't take a chance to let me strike head-on, however, as a knight of the deLauncebeaux house, I won't falter at anything! I summon Masked Knight LV3!"

A small knight with silver armor and golden edges appeared on the field, some rubies incrusted, one of his shoulder pads appeared to be made of gold while the other was a follow up of his silver-gold armor, however, the size was too small for it to be considered seriously.

 **Masked Knight LV3 – 1500 ATK**

Jack almost laughed at the sight of that… thing, was this medieval knight a joker of some sort? That monster was definitely a pathetic creature that would surely not stand a chance against most of his monsters. Rina observed intensely while Mokuba ignored the so-called King of Duels.

"A small knight who has just started his crusade, one that will show no peril and defend his ideals to the last breath, activate your effect! Once per turn I can inflict 400 points of damage to my opponent without the need of battle, go!"

The small knight took the sword on his back and swung it high on the air, as the sword lighted itself, Greiger could feel how his life points went down a bit"

 **Greiger – 3600**

"Naturally, my knight would not be able to attack due to his effect, however, this won't matter as I can overcome this with a spell, I activate the spell card Level Up!"

As the sight of the spell card appeared on the field, Jill was about to call for what it did until he looked at a missile going straight for the spell. He looked at the red machine as another missile was shot at his feet.

"It is admirable that you can make your way to damage your opponent with or without battle, but I won't be easily taken down, the moment you activated Level Up! I used Spell Reactor's effect to destroy the spell and inflict damage to your life points"

Greiger said in a solemn authority as Spell Reactor・RE finished his onslaught on his opponent. Jill, however, didn't flinch and continued as his life points dropped.

 **Jill – 3200**

"My card may have been destroyed, but the effect still plays! With Level Up! I can send my Masked Knight LV3 and directly summon Masked Knight LV 5 from my hand or deck, ignoring the summoning conditions"

The small knight was enveloped in a white light as he grew, the light dissipated once the knight took on a higher height, no longer looking like a midget and actually looking like a more 'teen' version of the once small knight, portraying the same silver/gold armor with the difference that he now had a more noticeable aura coming from him, with his wings getting more noticeable.

 **Masked Knight LV5 – 2300 ATK**

Greiger looked unfazed at the monster in front of him, he knew pretty well how LV monsters work, he had overcome the Standby clause they were defined for and now could attack with a monster better prepared for his cards, however, he still had one or two tricks on his sleeve.

"My turn is not over, and so is my knight, I equip him with a gallant shield strong enough to deviate your tricks, I activate Glory Shield!"

A massive shield the size of the Masked Knight appeared on the field as he took grasp of it, it appeared to have crystal embedded to act as an offensive shield.

"As long as my Masked Knight is equipped with Glory Shield, you won't be able to activate neither spell or traps until the end of the damage step, now go my Knight! Attack Spell Reactor・RE!"

The silver/gold knight launched himself with all the strength he could to attack and destroy the machine, who opposed no resistance as he was taken down in a single dash.

 **Greiger – 2500**

"And now that my knight has ended with his assault, the second effect of Glory Shield activates, when I inflict battle damage with the equipped monster, I can destroy one of your spell/trap cards!"

Some crystal shards were thrown at the left card on Greiger's spell/trap zone, but he still looked unfazed.

Back at the top of the tower, Rina stood in silence as she looked at the two duelists. Jack choose to watch too but said loudly for everyone to hear.

"If that is all that Jill guy has to offer, then I know the result already"

Rina didn't respond, but she had to admit that she knew too, as much as Jill opposed an attack at Greiger and apparently left him with few options, his decisions could cost him the duel, and by the look of it, he wanted to go all out on the first turn, his first and most decisive mistake.

"I end my turn"

 **Jill – 3**

Jill said as he took a defensive pose, Greiger was still unfazed but a small smile appeared on his face, Jill had gone for a good trap, but that didn't mean that he had other ways to bring his own strategy together, he had chosen well on not going all out.

"I draw"

 **Greiger – 4**

"I activate my face-down Star Blast, with this card effect, I am able to pay Life Points in multiples of 500, and by doing so, I can reduce the level of a monster in my hand for the rest of this turn, I choose to pay 500"

 **Greiger – 2000**

"And by doing so I can normal summon Summon Reactor・SK from my hand without tribute!"

A massive machine appeared on the middle of the field, mimicking an old war plane robot, yellow in color with two massive turbines on its shoulders.

 **Summon Reactor** **・** **SK – 2300 ATK**

"I set one card and end my turn"

Greiger said as he set one single card in his spell/trap zone, not even bothering to go through the Battle Phase.

 **Greiger – 2**

Everyone on the stadium wondered if Greiger was going serious or not, the way he dueled proved that he chooses to burn his opponent rather than attacking, however, the monster he just summoned could destroy any weaker monster that could be normal summoned or set without a tribute. Neither Jack nor Rina said anything as they watched the possible last turn of Jill.

"It is my turn!"

 **Jill – 4**

"And I have to say that I expected more, you don't look like the guy who would cover behind a big monster and burn his opponent for the game, but it appears that appearances do deceive, and for that, you will pay! I activate the effect of Masked Knight LV5, during my Standby Phase I can send this card from my field to the grave to special summon Masked Knight LV7 directly from my hand or deck, come to the battlefield my champion!

This time, the masked knight was alight and went even bigger than before, taking on a more refined and adult version of his younger self, sporting a pose rightful for a knight of his level.

 **Masked Knight LV7 – 2900 ATK**

This time, before Jill could do anything, he was shot deliberately as fast as his Masked Knight LV7 touch the field, and it came from the Machine on his opponent side. Greiger smiled as he looked at his opponent and his mistake.

"Spell Reactor could inflict 800 damage by destroying a spell upon activation, and while Summon Reactor is different, their effects don't differ that much, the moment a monster is first summoned on my opponent's side of the field, Summon Reactor can inflict 800 points of damage to my opponent"

 **Jill – 2400**

"If you plan on burning my life away, then two can play with fire, I activate the effect of my Masked Knight LV7, once a turn I can inflict 1500 damage to my opponent without the necessity of a battle, go my Champion!"

The sword of the Masked Knight illuminated on the sunlight and, instead of charging it, he swung his sword down and a sun slash was directly thrown at Greiger, who took the damage without a problem.

 **Greiger – 1000**

"You will live, but your monster will be finished, unlike my knight's younger version, Masked Knight LV7 can attack and use his effects on the same turn! Go my Champion and finish his Summon Reactor・SK!"

The Knight launched himself with his sword at the massive plane robot, however, as he closed the distance he could feel an air disturbance and was pushed back on place without resistance. Jill was unsure as to what happened until Greiger took him out of it.

"Unlike my other Reactor monsters, Summon Reactor・SK has the additional effect where if he inflicted damage, I can negate an attack the same turn his effect is activated, in other words, you knight won't be able to stop me"

Jill stood motionless for a second but regained himself as he took a card from his hand.

"My champion's onslaught won't be stopped much longer, I activate The Warrior Returning Alive, with this I can add the Masked Knight LV3 once again from my grave to my hand, then I set a card and end my turn"

 **Jill – 3**

Jill had a strategy in case Greiger manage to summon or obtain a monster with an attack bigger than his Champion, the moment he attacked he would activate Martyr Flag and send his Masked Knight LV3 to the grave in order to get Masked Knight LV7's attack up to 5800, more than enough to end anything that could end him. However, Jill had no idea that this was his last turn.

Greiger drew his card and smiled, he had enough to end this duel already.

 **Greiger – 3**

"From my hand, I summon Trap Reactor・Y FI"

A small green colored plane-like robot appeared on the field sporting some machine guns on his stomach and a more human appearance, just like Summon Reactor did.

 **Trap Reactor** **・** **Y FI – 800 ATK**

"And I also activate my face-down Iron Call! With this I can summon the Spell Reactor・RE from my graveyard with its effects negated, he will be destroyed on my end phase, but that won't be a problem"

 **Spell Reactor** **・** **RE – 1200 ATK**

* * *

The crowd wondered what would Greiger do next as all the monsters he summoned were on attack position, even if Jill didn't activate his Masked Knight's effect, he could attack for game, however, on top of the watchtower, Rina and Jack could see what Greiger was aiming for, they collected the name of his cards and, in the end, manage to know what Greiger wanted, he needed his three monsters on the field.

"Here it comes"

Mokuba said in a low voice as he looked at the turbines of Summon Reactor.

* * *

Back on the field, Greiger raised his hand as his monsters disappeared from the field.

"I activate the last effect of Summon Reactor・SK, by sending it to the graveyard with Trap Reactor・Y FI and Spell Reactor・RE, I can special summon a Flying Fortress SKY FIRE directly from my hand, grave or deck! Come forth!"

The three monsters were replaced with a giant version of a plane transformed into a massive robot in human form, with a dark green body and red arms, it looked like the morphed version of the three monsters before, way bigger than them!

 **Flying Fortress SKY FIRE – 3000 ATK**

Jill gasped at the giant monster that he had to face, but stood his ground, he had a plan, and he could overcome it, but it was in vain as Greiger had control of this turn, not him.

"I activate the effect of Flying Fortress SKY FIRE, by sending one card form my hand, I can destroy any card my opponent controls, that includes your Champion, Go SKY FIRE, Sharp Shooting!"

The massive monster's gun aimed at the Knight and mercilessly shoot at him, destroying him. Jill was at a loss as he had no way to defend himself, he had lost.

"Battle! Flying Fortress SKY FIRE, attack Jill directly, Death Air Raid!"

This time, the bullets were directed at him and struck him away with his life points.

 **Greiger – 1000 – 1 card**

 **Jill deLauncebeaux – 0 – 3 cards**

The audience cheered at Greiger's victory, every one of them, they were amazed that he manages to overcome his opponent with relative ease, but neither did Jack or Rina said anything as Greiger had control of the duel most of the time, from their point of view at least.

Jill looked at the floor for a moment but swallowed his pride and walked toward Greiger, he looked directly at him and raised his hand.

"I admit defeat, you bested me and took away my opportunity to go against the king"

He got closer and whispered.

 _"Be cautious of the witch"_

He said as he went outside of the stadium, Greiger stood unmoved by his warning, full knowing what he meant by that.

* * *

Rina finally looked outside of the window to look directly at Goodwin, with an uninterested look.

"It appears that your duelists are not that powerful Goodwin, I expected more"

She said without a single hint of remorse as she looked at her watch.

"However, I'll stay until the end of the duel, while your duelists are not that impressive, I can't say the same for some exceptions"

Rina was not a woman to be messed with, his father had once ruled over Domino as a non-figurative monarch before, as the person who took care of this city's evolution, of their security.

Goodwin looked at her and smiled.

"My duelists have not had their duels already, and I had my suspicions from Jill so he had to be taken care of, something one of my duelists has already done impeccably, maybe you should judge once all of them had an opportunity"

With his statement Jack actually laughed, he did respect the Kaiba name, but that didn't mean that he still didn't like Kaiba Rina even one bit, Rina looked at Goodwin one last time before she went to his uncle's side.

"You're right, but I doubt any of them will get past the quarterfinals, and even if they do, they won't last much longer"

She said as they both went to the elevator. Once the door had closed, Rina looked at his uncle.

"Is something funny?"

She said as her uncle chuckled.

"Nothing really, but the way you said it, I could barely contain my laughter back there, to be honest, I doubt any of Goodwin's contracted 'assassins' will get something done at all"

He chuckled one last time, the only time that Rina chooses to smile and chuckle too. She was thought, but the only person she would be relaxed with would be her uncle. She stopped however and regained her serious look.

"We should be wary of Greiger, he appears to be the only duelist assassin who could go far, and while I don't really know what Goodwin plans, we won't let him have his way"

Neo Domino has already suffered enough under Goodwin's care, and now that KaibaCorp has a reason to pursuit Goodwin for good, Rina was going to make sure to take it. This was her city, and she would make sure that nothing, not even a godsend, mess with her city anymore.

* * *

 **...I know, a year of non-mentioned Hiatus, but I am back... again, anyway, I hope you enjoyed, until next time!**


End file.
